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The Fusion Energy Program: The Role of TPX and Alternate Concepts

Description: This report focuses on the following two questions for the U.S. fusion energy program. First, what is the role of the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX), an approximately $700 million fusion reactor currently awaiting a congressional decision to begin construction? Second, what is the role of alternatives to the tokamak concept in a broad-based fusion energy program?
Date: unknown
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Using Desalination Technologies for Water Treatment

Description: This study provides a technical assessment of traditional desalination techniques that can be used for water treatment. These techniques include distillation, as well as more recently developed membrane processes. As part of this effort OTA held a one-day workshop on July 29, 1987, with desalination and water treatment experts to review the initial draft of this background paper and to discuss other areas of interest. The conclusions of these discussions are included in this background report.
Date: March 1988
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Electronic delivery of public assistance benefits: technology options and policy issues

Description: This background paper discusses the technological options available for use in an electronic system to deliver public assistance benefits, the privacy and security implications of such a system, and the programmatic effects of changing to an electronic delivery system. It was requested by the Subcommittee on the Handicapped of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
Date: April 1988
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Artificial insemination: practice in the United States: summary of a 1987 survey

Description: This background paper presents the results of a study of physician and sperm bank practice of artificial insemination in the United States. It documents the number of women undergoing artificial insemination each year, the annual cost, medical and social screening criteria for women seeking artificial insemination and men who donate semen, the genealogical recordkeeping available to the resulting children, and physician attitudes toward possible changes in artificial insemination practice.
Date: August 1988
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Issues in Medical Waste Management

Description: The paper examines the adequacy of current medical waste disposal practices and the potential for human health impacts to occur as a result of such practices. It also addresses the need for additional research and databases, and discusses probable trends in future costs and capacity as new regulations are adopted around the country. Finally, the paper considers the possible need for further Federal involvement in regulating the handling, treatment, storage, and disposal of medical wastes.
Date: October 1988
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Biological Effects of Power Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields

Description: This background report responds to a request by the Subcommittee on Water and Power Resources of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The subcommittee asked that OTA review the health effects of high-voltage transmission lines. To provide background information for its assessment on electric power wheeling, OTA contracted with the Carnegie-Mellon University.
Date: May 1989
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Technologies for Reducing Dioxin in the Manufacture of Bleached Wood Pulp

Description: As analytical technology improves, we are discovering dioxins associated with many products commonly found in the home and workplace. This report provides an assessment of these technologies; it does not address the policy issues related to regulating dioxin in paper products and controlling environmental release.
Date: May 1989
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adolescent Health Insurance Status: Analyses of Trends in Coverage and Preliminary Estimates of the Effects of an Employer Mandate and Medicaid Expansion on the Uninsured

Description: This report examines the health insurance status of adolescents (10 to 18 years of age) based on census data. It considers the reasons that some adolescents are insured and others are not, changes in the number of uninsured adolescents over time, and the effects of various approaches to ensure that more adolescents have insurance.
Date: June 1989
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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High Performance Computing and Networking for Science

Description: This background paper explores key issues concerning the Federal role in supporting national high performance computing facilities and in developing a national research and education network.
Date: September 1989
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Statistical Needs for a Changing U.S. Economy

Description: The background paper does not attempt to provide a comprehensive critique of national statistics and does not introduce new research designed to solve the technical problems. It is, instead, designed to show how defects in the existing statistical system can limit our understanding of key economic issues and to demonstrate the ways that better management and coordination of America’s statistical agencies can lead to concrete improvements.
Date: September 1989
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Affordable Spacecraft: Design and Launch Alternatives

Description: This background paper examines several proposals for reducing the costs of spacecraft and other payloads and describes launch systems for implementing them. It is one of a series of products of a broad assessment of space transportation technologies undertaken by OTA at the request of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Date: January 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Alaskan Water for California?: The Subsea Pipeline Option

Description: This background paper focuses on one technological option for increasing the supply of fresh water to the Southwest-that of building a freshwater subsea pipeline to transport water from Alaska to California. Originally a suggestion by Governor Walter Hickel of Alaska, the proposal has recently attracted attention in southern California.
Date: January 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Computer Software and Intellectual Property

Description: This background paper examines existing intellectual-property protection for computer software-copyrights, patents, and trade secrets—and provides an overview of the often conflicting views and concerns of various stakeholders. It was prepared in response to a request from the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Date: March 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Coping With an Oiled Sea

Description: In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in March, 1989, a myriad of investigations were initiated to evaluate the causes of that accident and to propose remedies. The Office of Technology Assessment was asked to study the Nation’s oil spill clean-up capabilities and to assess the technologies for responding to such catastrophic spills in the future.
Date: March 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Big Picture: HDTV and High-Resolution Systems

Description: A report on High Definition Television (HDTV. During 1989, HDTV moved from obscurity to center stage in the ongoing debate over the role of the Federal Government in U.S. industrial competitiveness. HDTV and related High-Resolution System (HRS) technologies in the computer and communications sectors may significantly impact U.S. electronics manufacturing, accelerate fundamental restructuring of the U.S. communications infrastructure, and provide a host of valuable services.
Date: June 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Energy Use and the U.S. Economy

Description: The background paper extends the analysis of energy use into new areas by explicitly looking at how energy use has changed with the expansion of the service sector, the explosion of international trade, and greater complexity of the U.S. economy as the structure of businesses changed in response to new technologies and competitive challenges. The increasing sophistication of the U.S. economy means that the role of energy is less likely to be directly identified and is instead more likely to be … more
Date: June 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trading Around the Clock: Global Securities Markets and Information Technology

Description: This background paper assesses the effects of information technology on securities markets and the current status of global securities trading. It compares securities markets and clearing and settlement mechanisms in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the rest of Europe with those in the United States. Finally it identities emerging questions about international markets and national regulatory regimes.
Date: July 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Children's Dental Services Under the Medicaid Program

Description: The report discusses the oral health of children eligible for Medicaid, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Health and the Environment requested OTA to determine whether children eligible for Medicaid are provided at least a minimum level of dental care. This study compares the dental manuals of seven State Medicaid programs with a set of “basic’ dental services (which comprise shared components of various well-accepted dental guidelines) to see if States allow th… more
Date: September 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Nonferrous Metals: Industry Structure

Description: This report profiles the structures of four domestic nonferrous metals industries (copper, aluminurn, lead, and zinc) and the changes they have undergone since 1980. The study also outlines the U.S. position in the world markets.
Date: September 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Orbiting Debris: A Space Environmental Problem

Description: This background paper, OTA sought the contributions of abroad spectrum of knowledgeable individuals and organizations. Some provided information, others reviewed drafts. OTA gratefully acknowledges their contributions of time and intellectual effort. As with all OTA studies, the content of this background paper is the sole responsibility of the Office of Technology Assessment and does not necessarily represent the views of our advisors or reviewers.
Date: October 1990
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Adjusting to a New Security Environment: The Defense Technology and Industrial Base Challenge

Description: This background paper, OTA sought information and advice from a broad spectrum of knowledgeable individuals and organizations whose contributions are gratefully acknowledged. As with all OTA studies, the content of this background paper is the sole responsibility of the Office of Technology Assessment and does not necessarily represent the views of our advisers and reviewers.
Date: February 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Seeking Solutions: High Performance Computing for Science

Description: This background paper focuses on the Federal role in supporting a national high-performance computing initiative. High-performance ‘‘supercomputers’ * are fast becoming tools of international competition and they play an important role in such areas as scientific research, weather forecasting, and popular entertainment. They may prove to be the key to maintaining America’s preeminence in science and engineering. The automotive, aerospace, electronic, and pharmaceutical industries are becoming m… more
Date: March 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
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.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Bioremediation for Marine Oil Spills

Description: This OTA background paper evaluates the current state of knowledge and assesses the potential of bioremediation for responding to marine oil spills. Our basic message is a dual one: we caution that there are still many uncertainties about the use of bioremediation as a practical oil spill response technology; nevertheless, it could be appropriate in certain circumstances, and further research and development of bioremediation technologies could lead to enhancing the Nation’s capability to fight… more
Date: May 1991
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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