[en] The minimal surface interpretation of rigidly rotating perfect fluids in General Relativity is extended to include the more general case of differential rotation. The minimal surface corresponding to the Kerr solution is given. (author)

[en] This article is a discussion of DOE's future environmental cleanup efforts in light of anticipated federal budget cuts. There has been a $200M recession in the FY 95 budget and a potential 30% cut in the FY 96 budget of $6.6B. Transfer of many functions of the cleanup effort to the private sector was heavily discussed

[en] This article is a review of the DOD/DOD funding debate in Congress. DOE expected the House to cut $740M from the 1996 cleanup program budget, and DOD expects some $200M to be cut from its programs

[en] The US Department of Energy has finally unveiled details of its plan to have a private sector vendor treat and process liquid nuclear wastes at the Hanford weapons site in Washington state. While the document is not the official request for proposals that potential bidders had hoped for, DOE says it is planning a two-phase program under which one or more companies would build and operate a privately financed pretreatment and vitrification facility. In the first phase, a proof-of-concept to begin this year and end in 2002, one or two vendors would be selected to vitrify about 2 million gal of the wastes. DOE says the first-phase waste would be representative of 80% of the total wastes in Hanford's 177 underground tanks. In the second phase, to run through 2028, DOE would choose a vendor to scale up its operations to treat the rest of the 57 million gal at Hanford. a DOE official says facilities that have been built for the initial phase could be used in the subsequent stage, although it is not clear yet technically whether pretreatment and vitrification plants could be built in a modular fashion

[en] Separate abstracts were prepared for two of the included papers. Abstracts for the remaining papers were previously entered into the data base

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[en] This comprehensive report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on the possible effects of electricity market liberalisation on the public service aspects of electricity supply in Switzerland. The definition and extent of public service in the electricity supply area are presented and differences in costs and prices for local and regional usage of the electricity grid are examined. Aspects such as guarantee of supply and price-solidarity are discussed as are the requirements placed by federal energy-policies that concern energy efficiency and the promotion of the use of renewable forms of energy. The possible influence of liberalisation on the individual elements of public service in the electricity area are looked at and actions to be taken to guarantee this public service are proposed