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Dioxin Treatment Technologies

Description: This paper presents the status of national efforts to cleanup dioxin-contaminated sites and the technologies that have been used, proposed, and researched. It covers thermal and nonthermal treatment techniques as well as approaches such as stabilization and storage. It discusses the development of these technologies as well as advantages and disadvantages of their use.
Date: November 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Efficiency in the Federal Government: Government by Good Example?

Description: This report focuses on the Federal Government, the Nation’s largest single energy consumer, in terms of the opportunities and constraints for the use of energy efficient technologies. Energy efficient technologies could greatly reduce energy demand growth and spending in the United States and lessen environmental impacts while increasing productivity. Yet, in today’s public and private markets, adoption rates for many of these technologies are low. This report reviews past and current efforts t… more
Date: May 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy in Developing Countries

Description: This report, the first of two, was prepared in response to the requesting committees’ interest in receiving an interim product. It examines how energy is supplied and used in developing countries, and how energy use is linked with economic and social development and environmental quality.
Date: January 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Technology Choices: Shaping Our Future

Description: The report provides a broad overview of energy choices facing the Nation. It is not an exhaustive analysis of any one technology; rather, it draws together the main themes of OTA reports from the past 16 years, and other documents, into an outline of the main directions the country could follow.
Date: July 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Exploring the Moon and Mars: Choices for the Nation

Description: This report, the result of an assessment of the potential for automation and robotics technology to assist in the exploration of the Moon and Mars, raises a number of issues related to the goals of the U.S. civilian space program. Among other things, the report discusses how greater attention to automation and robotics technologies could contribute to U.S. space exploration efforts.
Date: July 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Plague of Locusts: Special Report

Description: This is OTA’S fifth report on U.S. foreign aid and African agriculture and our most detailed look at one specific problem. The report provides a background on the unusual nature of grasshopper and locust problems, examine t e implications this has for the way problems are treated, then consider how U.S. contributions to the bilateral and multilateral control effort might be improved.
Date: June 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Access to Space: The Future of U.S. Space Transportation Systems

Description: This report is the final, summarizing report in a series of products from a broad assessment of space transportation technologies undertaken by OTA for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Date: April 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services

Description: This report focuses on key topics and issues that are central to the successful use of electronic deli very by government. This report provides Congress with alternative strategies for improving the performance of government by using modern information technologies.
Date: September 1993
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Who Goes There: Friend or Foe?

Description: This report discusses the problem of fratricide, or “friendly fire” casualties among combat units. The House Armed Services Committee requested that OTA assess the technology and techniques available to reduce this tragic loss of life.
Date: June 1993
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Testing and Assessment in Vocational Education

Description: The paper has six major purposes, in order to analyze the uses of tests used in vocational programs, particularly those designed to measure broad technical skills, identify trends in vocational assessment, and identify policy issues relevant to improving test development and quality.
Date: March 1994
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Social Security Administration's Decentralized Computer Strategy: Issues and Options

Description: The report highlights some of the opportunities and challenges faced by a major federal agency in: 1 ) implementing the Administration’s “National Performance Review and “National Information Infrastructure” programs, and 2) addressing issues raised in OTA’s 1993 report Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services.
Date: April 1994
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Federally Funded Research: Decisions for a Decade

Description: This report analyzes what OTA identifies as four pressing challenges for the research system i-n the 1990s: setting priorities in tiding, understanding trends in research expenditures, preparing human resources for the future research work force, and supplying appropriate data for ongoing research decision making. Managing the Federal research system requires more than funding; it means devising ways to retain the diversity and creativity that have distinguished U.S. contributions to scientific… more
Date: May 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Arms Trade: Commerce in Advanced Military Technology and Weapons

Description: This report, the final product of OTA’s assessment on international collaboration in defense technology, explores the form and dynamics of the international defense industry, the intricacies of technology transfer and equipment sales, and the implications for U.S. policy.
Date: September 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Identifying and Controlling Immunotoxic Substances

Description: This background paper, which describes the state-of the- art of identifying substances that can harm the immune system, represents one response to the committee’s request. Chapter 2 provides basic information about the principal components of the immune system and the general consequences that stem from perturbations to it. Chapter 3 describes methods for evaluating chemical immunotoxicity and reports on some known or suspected immunotoxicants. Chapter 4 summarizes Federal research and regulato… more
Date: April 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Long-Lived Legacy: Managing High-Level and Transuranic Waste at the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex

Description: This report describes, documents, and analyzes available data about two key waste management problems at the Department of Energy Weapons Complex—those of high-level radioactive waste and transuranic waste. The paper is organized in two chapters—” Chapter 1: Managing High Level Waste’ and ‘Chapter 2: Managing Transuranic Waste. ” Each chapter contains a summary overview followed by a discussion and analysis of important areas in the waste management problem that the DOE faces at present and in … more
Date: May 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medical Monitoring and Screening in the Workplace: Results of a Survey

Description: This OTA Background Paper presents the results of a survey of 1,500 U.S. companies, the 50 largest utilities, and the largest unions. The survey was designed to obtain information about the types of medical monitoring and screening done in the United States and the extent of their use. OTA finds that virtually all large U.S. employers use some of these tests.
Date: September 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Miniaturization Technologies

Description: This report analyzes various technologies that may be important for future advances in miniaturization. Current research in the United States and other nations is pushing the limits of miniaturization to the point that structures only hundreds of atoms thick will be commonly manufactured. Researchers studying atomic and molecular interactions are continuing to push the frontiers, creating knowledge needed to continue progress in miniaturization. Scientists and engineers are creating microscopic… more
Date: November 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Moving Ahead: 1991 Surface Transportation Legislation

Description: This report discusses the major issues surrounding the reauthorization of highway and transit legislation is laid out and four illustrative types of surface transportation programs are presented in chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 3 is devoted to the discussion of motor carrier programs, with special attention to issues related to longer combination trucks.
Date: June 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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New Opportunities for U.S. Universities in Development Assistance: Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment

Description: This background paper discusses the legacy of 40 years of U.S. university/AID collaboration, and examines new opportunities for U.S. university participation in development assistance.
Date: September 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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New Ways: Tiltrotor Aircraft and Magnetically Levitated Vehicles

Description: Common issues for these systems include their possible contributions to improving mobility in congested corridors, U.S. technology leadership, the Federal role in transportation research and development, and institutional and community barriers to major, new infrastructure programs. Moreover, some Federal financing is likely to be required if commercial maglev or tiltrotor technologies are to be developed by U.S. industry over the next decade. Congress will need to clarify its objectives for su… more
Date: September 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Outpatient Immunosuppressive Drugs Under Medicare

Description: In 1984, the year after cyclosporine made its debut onto the health care market, OTA reported to Congress on the likely benefits of the drug for Medicare kidney transplant recipients. The present report, requested by the Senate Committee on Finance in the wake of the repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, examines Medicare’s current immunosuppressive drug coverage dilemma and the policy tradeoffs it entails for the 1990s.
Date: July 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Fueling Development: Energy Technologies for Developing Countries

Description: This report examines the delivery of energy services in developing countries and how the United States can help to improve these energy services while minimizing environmental impacts, OTA examines the technologies and policies that will enable more efficient use of energy and the most promising new sources of energy supply.
Date: April 1992
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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