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125-418: The basis for the project is founded on the facts that in the near future: During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama stated, " Nuclear power represents more than 70% of our noncarbon generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option." The LWRS Program operates on the premise that electricity from nuclear generating stations, as

250-1077: A president of the United States in Congress Assembled to preside over its deliberation as a neutral discussion moderator . Unrelated to and quite dissimilar from the later office of president of the United States, it was a largely ceremonial position without much influence. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies. With peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak and their respective economies in crises as neighboring states agitated trade rivalries with one another. They witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates , and their foreign-financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest. Civil and political unrest loomed. Events such as

375-501: A "disruptive" erosion of his ability to govern. Ford failed to win election to a full term and his successor, Jimmy Carter , failed to win re-election. Ronald Reagan , who had been an actor before beginning his political career, used his talent as a communicator to help reshape the American agenda away from New Deal policies toward more conservative ideology. With the Cold War ending and

500-471: A "fourth big scientific revolution" after World War II is the development of scientific instrumentation, not only in chemistry but across the sciences. In chemistry, the introduction of new instrumentation in the 1940s was "nothing less than a scientific and technological revolution" in which classical wet-and-dry methods of structural organic chemistry were discarded, and new areas of research opened up. As early as 1954, W. A. Wildhack discussed both

625-505: A central control focus, this arrangement was inflexible as each control loop had its own controller hardware, and continual operator movement within the control room was required to view different parts of the process. With coming of electronic processors and graphic displays it became possible to replace these discrete controllers with computer-based algorithms, hosted on a network of input/output racks with their own control processors. These could be distributed around plant, and communicate with

750-501: A collection of equipment might be used to automate the testing of drinking water for pollutants. Instrumentation engineering is the engineering specialization focused on the principle and operation of measuring instruments that are used in design and configuration of automated systems in areas such as electrical and pneumatic domains, and the control of quantities being measured. They typically work for industries with automated processes, such as chemical or manufacturing plants, with

875-559: A delegate for Virginia. When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the 12 state delegations in attendance ( Rhode Island did not send delegates) brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by

1000-449: A desired output variable, and provide either remote monitoring or automated control capabilities. Each instrument company introduced their own standard instrumentation signal, causing confusion until the 4–20 mA range was used as the standard electronic instrument signal for transmitters and valves. This signal was eventually standardized as ANSI/ISA S50, "Compatibility of Analog Signals for Electronic Industrial Process Instruments", in

1125-532: A destination. Automotive instrumentation must be cheap and reliable over long periods in harsh environments. There may be independent airbag systems that contain sensors, logic and actuators. Anti-skid braking systems use sensors to control the brakes, while cruise control affects throttle position. A wide variety of services can be provided via communication links on the OnStar system. Autonomous cars (with exotic instrumentation) have been shown. Early aircraft had

1250-463: A dominant figure in American politics. Historians believe Roosevelt permanently changed the political system by strengthening the presidency, with some key accomplishments including breaking up trusts, conservationism, labor reforms, making personal character as important as the issues, and hand-picking his successor, William Howard Taft . The following decade, Woodrow Wilson led the nation to victory during World War I , although Wilson's proposal for

1375-575: A few sensors. "Steam gauges" converted air pressures into needle deflections that could be interpreted as altitude and airspeed. A magnetic compass provided a sense of direction. The displays to the pilot were as critical as the measurements. A modern aircraft has a far more sophisticated suite of sensors and displays, which are embedded into avionics systems. The aircraft may contain inertial navigation systems , global positioning systems , weather radar , autopilots, and aircraft stabilization systems. Redundant sensors are used for reliability. A subset of

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1500-534: A good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress". Bill Wilson , board member of Americans for Limited Government , opined that the expanded presidency was "the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule". Article I, Section   1 of the Constitution vests all lawmaking power in Congress's hands, and Article 1, Section 6, Clause   2 prevents

1625-625: A manner that creates a seamless digital environment encompassing all aspects of plant operations and support – building a three-dimensional information architecture that integrates plant systems, plant processes, and plant workers in an array of interconnected technologies. The Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization Pathway conducts research to develop and deploy approaches to support the management of uncertainty in safety margins quantification to improve decision making for nuclear power plants. This pathway will (1) develop and demonstrate

1750-466: A month after taking office. Presidents often grant pardons shortly before leaving office, like when Bill Clinton pardoned Patty Hearst on his last day in office; this is often controversial . Two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege , which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to

1875-943: A number of issues, including representation and voting, and the exact powers to be given the central government. Congress finished work on the Articles of Confederation to establish a perpetual union between the states in November 1777 and sent it to the states for ratification . Under the Articles, which took effect on March 1, 1781, the Congress of the Confederation was a central political authority without any legislative power. It could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, and could not impose any taxes or enforce local commercial regulations upon its citizens. This institutional design reflected how Americans believed

2000-431: A presidential veto, it requires a two-thirds vote of both houses, which is usually very difficult to achieve except for widely supported bipartisan legislation. The framers of the Constitution feared that Congress would seek to increase its power and enable a "tyranny of the majority", so giving the indirectly elected president a veto was viewed as an important check on the legislative power. While George Washington believed

2125-451: A pressurized bellows displaces a pen. Integrating sensors, displays, recorders, and controls was uncommon until the industrial revolution, limited by both need and practicality. Early systems used direct process connections to local control panels for control and indication, which from the early 1930s saw the introduction of pneumatic transmitters and automatic 3-term (PID) controllers . The ranges of pneumatic transmitters were defined by

2250-667: A risk-assessment method tied to safety margins quantification and (2) create advanced tools for safety assessment that enable more accurate representation of a nuclear power plant safety margin. Safety is central to the design, licensing, operation, and economics of nuclear power plants . As the current LWR nuclear power plants age beyond 60 years, there are possibilities for increased frequency of system, structures, and components failures that initiate safety-significant events, reduce existing accident mitigation capabilities, or create new failure modes. Plant designers commonly "over-design" portions of nuclear power plants and provide robustness in

2375-438: A sexual harassment suit could proceed without delay, even against a sitting president. The 2019 Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election detailed evidence of possible obstruction of justice , but investigators declined to refer Donald Trump for prosecution based on a United States Department of Justice policy against indicting an incumbent president. The report noted that impeachment by Congress

2500-601: A sitting American president led troops in the field", though James Madison briefly took control of artillery units in defense of Washington, D.C. , during the War of 1812 . Abraham Lincoln was deeply involved in overall strategy and in day-to-day operations during the American Civil War , 1861–1865; historians have given Lincoln high praise for his strategic sense and his ability to select and encourage commanders such as Ulysses S. Grant . The present-day operational command of

2625-536: A state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn , a custom begun by John F. Kennedy in 1961. This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening. As a national leader, the president also fulfills many less formal ceremonial duties. For example, William Howard Taft started

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2750-556: A very challenging service environment. Components within the containment of an operating reactor must tolerate high-temperature water, stress, vibration, and an intense neutron field. Degradation of materials in this environment can lead to reduced performance and, in some cases, sudden failure. Clearly, the demanding environments of an operating nuclear reactor may impact the ability of a broad range of materials to perform their intended function over extended service periods. Routine surveillance and repair/replacement activities can mitigate

2875-646: A vital input to the licensee and regulatory analysis and decision making that will be involved. In addition, as research and development in the LWRS Program and other collaborative efforts yield new data and improved scientific understanding of physical processes that govern the aging and degradation of plant systems, structures, and components (and concurrently support technological advances in nuclear reactor fuel and plant instrumentation, information, and control systems) needs and opportunities to better optimize plant safety and performance will become known. The purpose of

3000-469: A zero- carbon source, can and must play a critical role as part of an overall solution to both of these needs. The LWRS Program focuses on four main areas: Materials Aging and Degradation, Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control Systems Technologies, Advanced Light Water Reactor Nuclear Fuels, and finally, Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization. Domestic demand for electric energy

3125-451: Is a device that produces an output signal, often in the form of a 4–20  mA electrical current signal, although many other options using voltage , frequency , pressure , or ethernet are possible. The transistor was commercialized by the mid-1950s. Instruments attached to a control system provided signals used to operate solenoids , valves , regulators , circuit breakers , relays and other devices. Such devices could control

3250-523: Is a significant driver of nuclear power plant operational performance, safety, operating economics, and waste disposal requirements (Over the past two decades, the nuclear power industry has improved plant capacity factors with incremental improvements achieved in fuel reliability and use or burnup). However, these upgrades are reaching their maximum achievable impact to achieve significant safety margin improvements while improving operating margins and economics, significant steps beyond incremental improvements in

3375-449: Is based on sensed antenna direction and sensed time delay. The other information is embedded in the transponder transmission. Among the possible uses of the term is a collection of laboratory test equipment controlled by a computer through an IEEE-488 bus (also known as GPIB for General Purpose Instrument Bus or HPIB for Hewlitt Packard Instrument Bus). Laboratory equipment is available to measure many electrical and chemical quantities. Such

3500-465: Is expected to grow by more than 30% from 2009 to 2035. At the same time, most of the currently operating nuclear power plants will begin reaching the end of their initial 20-year extension to their original 40-year operating license, for a total of 60 years of operation. According to one study, demand will increase by 30-40% by the year 2030. Other studies suggest an even higher increase in the world in general: above 80% by 2035. President Obama made clear

3625-413: Is head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". The executive branch has over four million employees, including the military. Presidents make political appointments . An incoming president may make up to 4,000 upon taking office, 1200 of which must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate . Ambassadors , members of

3750-407: Is often knowledgeable of techniques to minimize temperature gradients that cause air turbulence within the telescope. Instrumentation technologists, technicians and mechanics specialize in troubleshooting, repairing and maintaining instruments and instrumentation systems. Ralph Müller (1940) stated, "That the history of physical science is largely the history of instruments and their intelligent use

3875-421: Is significantly shaped by the outcome of presidential elections, with presidents taking an active role in promoting their policy priorities to members of Congress who are often electorally dependent on the president. In recent decades, presidents have also made increasing use of executive orders , agency regulations, and judicial appointments to shape domestic policy. The president is elected indirectly through

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4000-685: Is the 46th and current president, having assumed office on January 20, 2021. President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated as the 47th president on January 20, 2025. During the American Revolutionary War , the Thirteen Colonies , represented by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia , declared themselves to be independent sovereign states and no longer under British rule. The affirmation

4125-556: Is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States.   ... It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces   ... while that [the power] of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all [of] which   ... would appertain to the legislature. [Emphasis in

4250-526: Is to develop, demonstrate, and deploy new digital technologies for instrumentation information and control architectures and provide monitoring capabilities to ensure the continued safe, reliable, and economic operation of the nation's 104 nuclear power plants. The purpose of the Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control Systems Technologies Pathway is to enable the modernization of the legacy instrumentation information and control systems in

4375-502: Is used to measure many parameters (physical values), including: The history of instrumentation can be divided into several phases. Elements of industrial instrumentation have long histories. Scales for comparing weights and simple pointers to indicate position are ancient technologies. Some of the earliest measurements were of time. One of the oldest water clocks was found in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep I , buried around 1500 BCE. Improvements were incorporated in

4500-470: Is well known. The broad generalizations and theories which have arisen from time to time have stood or fallen on the basis of accurate measurement, and in several instances new instruments have had to be devised for the purpose. There is little evidence to show that the mind of modern man is superior to that of the ancients. His tools are incomparably better." Davis Baird has argued that the major change associated with Floris Cohen ' s identification of

4625-847: The Boy Scouts of America . Instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments , used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities . It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related areas of metrology , automation , and control theory . The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making . Instrumentation can refer to devices as simple as direct-reading thermometers , or as complex as multi- sensor components of industrial control systems . Instruments can be found in laboratories , refineries , factories and vehicles , as well as in everyday household use (e.g., smoke detectors and thermostats ). Instrumentation

4750-530: The Cabinet , and various officers , are among the positions filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation. The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove executive officials at will. However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute . To manage

4875-555: The Electoral College to a four-year term, along with the vice president . Under the Twenty-second Amendment , ratified in 1951, no person who has been elected to two presidential terms may be elected to a third. In addition, nine vice presidents have become president by virtue of a president's intra-term death or resignation . In all, 45 individuals have served 46 presidencies spanning 58 four-year terms. Joe Biden

5000-742: The League of Nations was rejected by the Senate. Warren Harding , while popular in office, would see his legacy tarnished by scandals, especially Teapot Dome , and Herbert Hoover quickly became very unpopular after failing to alleviate the Great Depression . The ascendancy of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 led further toward what historians now describe as the Imperial presidency . Backed by enormous Democratic majorities in Congress and public support for major change, Roosevelt's New Deal dramatically increased

5125-636: The Newburgh Conspiracy and Shays' Rebellion demonstrated that the Articles of Confederation were not working. Following the successful resolution of commercial and fishing disputes between Virginia and Maryland at the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785, Virginia called for a trade conference between all the states, set for September 1786 in Annapolis, Maryland , with an aim toward resolving further-reaching interstate commercial antagonisms. When

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5250-739: The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are the primary research facilities involved. Other labs and universities across the country are involved in specific parts of the research (see below). National Laboratories The Materials Aging and Degradation Pathway conducts research to develop the scientific basis for understanding and predicting long-term environmental degradation behavior of materials in nuclear power plants. Provide data and methods to assess performance of systems, structures, and components essential to safe and sustained nuclear power plant operation, providing key input to both regulators and industry. Nuclear reactors present

5375-552: The Supreme Court of the United States . However, these nominations require Senate confirmation before they may take office. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to U.S. district courts , presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of senatorial courtesy . Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves . Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon

5500-578: The U.S. Constitution emerged. As the nation's first president, George Washington established many norms that would come to define the office. His decision to retire after two terms helped address fears that the nation would devolve into monarchy, and established a precedent that would not be broken until 1940 and would eventually be made permanent by the Twenty-Second Amendment . By the end of his presidency, political parties had developed, with John Adams defeating Thomas Jefferson in 1796,

5625-587: The Watergate scandal , Congress enacted a series of reforms intended to reassert itself. These included the War Powers Resolution , enacted over Nixon's veto in 1973, and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 that sought to strengthen congressional fiscal powers. By 1976, Gerald Ford conceded that "the historic pendulum" had swung toward Congress, raising the possibility of

5750-612: The Watergate scandal , the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon , 418 U.S. 683 (1974), that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal , the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones , 520 U.S. 681 (1997), that

5875-485: The convention failed for lack of attendance due to suspicions among most of the other states, Alexander Hamilton of New York led the Annapolis delegates in a call for a convention to offer revisions to the Articles, to be held the next spring in Philadelphia . Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington 's attendance to Philadelphia as

6000-580: The 1830s and 1840s until debates over slavery began pulling the nation apart in the 1850s. Abraham Lincoln 's leadership during the Civil War has led historians to regard him as one of the nation's greatest presidents. The circumstances of the war and Republican domination of Congress made the office very powerful, and Lincoln's re-election in 1864 was the first time a president had been re-elected since Jackson in 1832. After Lincoln's assassination, his successor Andrew Johnson lost all political support and

6125-417: The 1970s. The transformation of instrumentation from mechanical pneumatic transmitters, controllers, and valves to electronic instruments reduced maintenance costs as electronic instruments were more dependable than mechanical instruments. This also increased efficiency and production due to their increase in accuracy. Pneumatics enjoyed some advantages, being favored in corrosive and explosive atmospheres. In

6250-695: The Armed Forces is delegated to the Department of Defense and is normally exercised through the secretary of defense . The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commands assist with the operation as outlined in the presidentially approved Unified Command Plan (UCP). The president has the power to nominate federal judges , including members of the United States courts of appeals and

6375-470: The Constitution grants to the president as commander-in-chief has been the subject of much debate throughout history, with Congress at various times granting the president wide authority and at others attempting to restrict that authority. The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explained this in Federalist No. 69 : The President

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6500-714: The Materials Aging and Degradation Pathway) is involved in this research and development activity to provide improved mechanistic understanding of key degradation modes and sufficient experimental data to provide and validate operational limits; provide new methods of monitoring degradation; and develop advanced mitigation techniques to provide improved performance, reliability, and economics. The Advanced Instrumentation , Information, and Control Systems Technologies Pathway conducts research to develop, demonstrate, and deploy new digital technologies for instrumentation and control architectures and provide monitoring capabilities to ensure

6625-963: The Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization Pathway is to develop and deploy approaches to support the management of uncertainty in safety margins quantification to improve decision making for nuclear power plants. Management of uncertainty implies the ability to (a) understand and (b) control risks related to safety. Consequently, the RISMC Pathway is dedicated to improving both aspects of safety management. The Advanced Nuclear Fuels Pathway conducts research to improve scientific knowledge basis for understanding and predicting fundamental nuclear fuel and cladding performance in nuclear power plants. Apply this information to development of high-performance, high burn-up fuels with improved safety, cladding integrity, and improved nuclear fuel cycle economics. Nuclear fuel performance

6750-469: The Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a former Union spy. However, the privilege was not formally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until United States v. Reynolds 345 U.S. 1 (1953), where it was held to be a common law evidentiary privilege. Before the September 11 attacks , use of the privilege had been rare, but increasing in frequency. Since 2001, the government has asserted

6875-467: The U.S.'s national stance on carbon dioxide emissions on the White House's website which stated, "We must take immediate action to reduce the carbon pollution that threatens our climate and sustains our dependence on fossil fuels ." The President has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) near Idaho Falls, Idaho and

7000-504: The United States ( POTUS ) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America . The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces . The power of the presidency has grown substantially since the first president, George Washington , took office in 1789. While presidential power has ebbed and flowed over time,

7125-483: The United States and other countries. Such agreements, upon receiving the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate (by a two-thirds majority vote), become binding with the force of federal law. While foreign affairs has always been a significant element of presidential responsibilities, advances in technology since the Constitution's adoption have increased presidential power. Where formerly ambassadors were vested with significant power to independently negotiate on behalf of

7250-626: The United States becoming the world's undisputed leading power, Bill Clinton , George W. Bush , and Barack Obama each served two terms as president. Meanwhile, Congress and the nation gradually became more politically polarized, especially following the 1994 mid-term elections that saw Republicans control the House for the first time in 40 years, and the rise of routine filibusters in the Senate in recent decades. Recent presidents have thus increasingly focused on executive orders , agency regulations, and judicial appointments to implement major policies, at

7375-423: The United States, presidents now routinely meet directly with leaders of foreign countries. One of the most important of executive powers is the president's role as commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces . The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the military. The exact degree of authority that

7500-468: The White House". Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it. This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional. Conservative commentator George Will wrote of an "increasingly swollen executive branch" and "the eclipse of Congress". To allow

7625-600: The biomedical instrumentation of laboratory rats has very different concerns than the expert in rocket instrumentation. Common concerns of both are the selection of appropriate sensors based on size, weight, cost, reliability, accuracy, longevity, environmental robustness, and frequency response. Some sensors are literally fired in artillery shells. Others sense thermonuclear explosions until destroyed. Invariably sensor data must be recorded, transmitted or displayed. Recording rates and capacities vary enormously. Transmission can be trivial or can be clandestine, encrypted and low power in

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7750-408: The changes would have substantial beneficial improvements in nuclear power plant economics, operation, and safety. The Advanced LWR Nuclear Fuels Pathway performs research on improving reactor safety, increasing fuel economics, producing advanced cladding designs, and developing enhanced computational models to predict fuel performance. Strategic research and development goals are directed at improving

7875-484: The clocks. By 270 BCE they had the rudiments of an automatic control system device. In 1663 Christopher Wren presented the Royal Society with a design for a "weather clock". A drawing shows meteorological sensors moving pens over paper driven by clockwork. Such devices did not become standard in meteorology for two centuries. The concept has remained virtually unchanged as evidenced by pneumatic chart recorders, where

8000-425: The continued safe, reliable, and economic operation of the nation's operating nuclear power plants. Reliable instrumentation, information, and control systems technologies are essential to ensuring safe and efficient operation of the U.S. LWR fleet. These technologies affect every aspect of nuclear power plant and balance-of-plant operations. Current instrumentation and human-machine interfaces employ analog systems in

8125-479: The control racks to be networked and thereby located locally to plant to reduce cabling runs, and provided high level overviews of plant status and production levels. In some cases, the sensor is a very minor element of the mechanism. Digital cameras and wristwatches might technically meet the loose definition of instrumentation because they record and/or display sensed information. Under most circumstances neither would be called instrumentation, but when used to measure

8250-543: The current generation of nuclear fuel are required. Fundamental changes are required in the areas of nuclear fuel composition, cladding integrity, and the fuel/cladding interaction to reach the next levels of fuel performance. The technological improvements being developed in the Advanced LWR Nuclear Fuels Pathway center on development of revolutionary cladding materials supported by enhanced fuel mechanical designs and alternate fuel compositions. If realized,

8375-544: The death of William Henry Harrison and subsequent poor relations between John Tyler and Congress led to further weakening of the office. Including Van Buren, in the 24 years between 1837 and 1861, six presidential terms would be filled by eight different men, with none serving two terms. The Senate played an important role during this period, with the Great Triumvirate of Henry Clay , Daniel Webster , and John C. Calhoun playing key roles in shaping national policy in

8500-457: The deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion : a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire. The states were out from under any monarchy and assigned some formerly royal prerogatives (e.g., making war, receiving ambassadors, etc.) to Congress; the remaining prerogatives were lodged within their own respective state governments. The members of Congress elected

8625-435: The early years of process control , process indicators and control elements such as valves were monitored by an operator, that walked around the unit adjusting the valves to obtain the desired temperatures, pressures, and flows. As technology evolved pneumatic controllers were invented and mounted in the field that monitored the process and controlled the valves. This reduced the amount of time process operators needed to monitor

8750-409: The elapsed time of a race and to document the winner at the finish line, both would be called instrumentation. A very simple example of an instrumentation system is a mechanical thermostat , used to control a household furnace and thus to control room temperature. A typical unit senses temperature with a bi-metallic strip . It displays temperature by a needle on the free end of the strip. It activates

8875-524: The evaluation of nuclear power plant life extension while complementing research and development efforts of the nuclear industry and regulators. The strategic goals of the pathway are to develop the scientific basis for understanding and predicting long-term environmental degradation behavior of materials in nuclear power plants and to provide data and methods to assess performance of systems, structures, and components essential to safe and sustained nuclear power plant operations. The Department of Energy (through

9000-461: The executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. Additionally, the president may attempt to have Congress alter proposed legislation by threatening to veto that legislation unless requested changes are made. Many laws enacted by Congress do not address every possible detail, and either explicitly or implicitly delegate powers of implementation to an appropriate federal agency. As

9125-467: The expense of legislation and congressional power. Presidential elections in the 21st century have reflected this continuing polarization, with no candidate except Obama in 2008 winning by more than five percent of the popular vote and two, George W. Bush and Donald Trump , winning in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. The nation's Founding Fathers expected the Congress , which

9250-504: The federal government by issuing various types of directives , such as presidential proclamation and executive orders . When the president is lawfully exercising one of the constitutionally conferred presidential responsibilities, the scope of this power is broad. Even so, these directives are subject to judicial review by U.S. federal courts, which can find them to be unconstitutional. Congress can overturn an executive order through legislation. Article II, Section 3, Clause 4 requires

9375-522: The first U.S. president, firmly established military subordination under civilian authority . In 1794, Washington used his constitutional powers to assemble 12,000 militia to quell the Whiskey Rebellion , a conflict in Western Pennsylvania involving armed farmers and distillers who refused to pay an excise tax on spirits. According to historian Joseph Ellis , this was the "first and only time

9500-522: The first truly contested presidential election. After Jefferson defeated Adams in 1800, he and his fellow Virginians James Madison and James Monroe would each serve two terms, eventually dominating the nation's politics during the Era of Good Feelings until Adams' son John Quincy Adams won election in 1824 after the Democratic-Republican Party split. The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828

9625-447: The form of redundant and diverse engineered safety features to ensure that, even in the case of well-beyond design basis scenarios, public health and safety will be protected with a very high degree of assurance. The ability to better characterize and quantify safety margin holds the key to improved decision making about LWR design, operation, and plant life extension. A systematic approach to characterization of safety margins represents

9750-406: The furnace by a mercury switch . As the switch is rotated by the strip, the mercury makes physical (and thus electrical) contact between electrodes. Another example of an instrumentation system is a home security system . Such a system consists of sensors (motion detection, switches to detect door openings), simple algorithms to detect intrusion, local control (arm/disarm) and remote monitoring of

9875-408: The goal of improving system productivity , reliability, safety, optimization and stability. To control the parameters in a process or in a particular system, devices such as microprocessors, microcontrollers or PLCs are used, but their ultimate aim is to control the parameters of a system. Instrumentation engineering is loosely defined because the required tasks are very domain dependent. An expert in

10000-417: The government to act quickly in case of a major domestic or international crisis arising when Congress is not in session, the president is empowered by Article II, Section   3 of the Constitution to call a special session of one or both houses of Congress. Since John Adams first did so in 1797, the president has called the full Congress to convene for a special session on 27 occasions. Harry S. Truman

10125-446: The graphic display in the control room or rooms. The distributed control concept was born. The introduction of DCSs and SCADA allowed easy interconnection and re-configuration of plant controls such as cascaded loops and interlocks, and easy interfacing with other production computer systems. It enabled sophisticated alarm handling, introduced automatic event logging, removed the need for physical records such as chart recorders, allowed

10250-632: The growing federal bureaucracy, presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of the United States . Within the Executive Office, the president's innermost layer of aides, and their assistants, are located in the White House Office . The president also possesses the power to manage operations of

10375-474: The head of the executive branch, presidents control a vast array of agencies that can issue regulations with little oversight from Congress. In the 20th century, critics charged that too many legislative and budgetary powers that should have belonged to Congress had slid into the hands of presidents. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a "virtual army of 'czars'—each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for

10500-692: The impact of this degradation; however, failures still occur. While all components potentially can be replaced, decisions to simply replace components may not be practical or the most economically favorable option. Therefore, understanding, controlling, and mitigating materials degradation processes and establishing a sound technical basis for long-range planning of necessary replacements are key priorities for extended nuclear power plants operations and power uprate considerations. The Materials Aging and Degradation Pathway provides research in many areas of materials science and technology, all supporting multiple Department of Energy missions and providing unique input to

10625-496: The information may be transferred to a crash recorder to aid mishap investigations. Modern pilot displays now include computer displays including head-up displays . Air traffic control radar is a distributed instrumentation system. The ground part sends an electromagnetic pulse and receives an echo (at least). Aircraft carry transponders that transmit codes on reception of the pulse. The system displays an aircraft map location, an identifier and optionally altitude. The map location

10750-461: The leader of the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP , the president possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power . For much of the 20th century, especially during the Cold War , the U.S. president was often called "the leader of the free world". Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government and vests executive power in

10875-422: The legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature. New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three-year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter. It was through the closed-door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in

11000-439: The need to control valves and actuators in the field. Typically, a signal ranged from 3 to 15 psi (20 to 100kPa or 0.2 to 1.0 kg/cm2) as a standard, was standardized with 6 to 30 psi occasionally being used for larger valves. Transistor electronics enabled wiring to replace pipes, initially with a range of 20 to 100mA at up to 90V for loop powered devices, reducing to 4 to 20mA at 12 to 24V in more modern systems. A transmitter

11125-450: The nuclear power sector. These systems, though generally considered by other industries to be obsolete, continue to function reliably, but do not enable utilities to take full advantage of digital technologies to achieve performance gains. Beyond control systems, new technologies are needed to monitor and characterize the effects of aging and degradation in critical areas of key systems, structures, and components. The objective of these efforts

11250-506: The office as a position of global leadership. His successors, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower , each served two terms as the Cold War led the presidency to be viewed as the " leader of the free world ", while John F. Kennedy was a youthful and popular leader who benefited from the rise of television in the 1960s. After Lyndon B. Johnson lost popular support due to the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon 's presidency collapsed in

11375-423: The original.] In the modern era, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution , Congress must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual. Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. Presidents have historically initiated

11500-593: The presence of jamming. Displays can be trivially simple or can require consultation with human factors experts. Control system design varies from trivial to a separate specialty. Instrumentation engineers are responsible for integrating the sensors with the recorders, transmitters, displays or control systems, and producing the Piping and instrumentation diagram for the process. They may design or specify installation, wiring and signal conditioning. They may be responsible for commissioning, calibration, testing and maintenance of

11625-412: The presidency has played an increasingly significant role in American political life since the beginning of the 20th century, carrying over into the 21st century with notable expansions during the presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and George W. Bush . In modern times, the president is one of the world's most powerful political figures and the leader of the world's only remaining superpower . As

11750-516: The president (and all other executive branch officers) from simultaneously being a member of Congress. Nevertheless, the modern presidency exerts significant power over legislation, both due to constitutional provisions and historical developments over time. The president's most significant legislative power derives from the Presentment Clause , which gives the president the power to veto any bill passed by Congress . While Congress can override

11875-406: The president believes are needed. Additionally, the president can attempt to shape legislation during the legislative process by exerting influence on individual members of Congress. Presidents possess this power because the Constitution is silent about who can write legislation, but the power is limited because only members of Congress can introduce legislation. The president or other officials of

12000-461: The president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed the privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay 's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain . While not enshrined in the Constitution or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during

12125-504: The president is authorized to adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on the time of adjournment; no president has ever had to exercise this power. Suffice it to say that the President is made the sole repository of the executive powers of the United States, and the powers entrusted to him as well as the duties imposed upon him are awesome indeed. Nixon v. General Services Administration , 433 U.S. 425 (1977) ( Rehnquist, J. , dissenting ) The president

12250-422: The president personally has absolute immunity from court cases is contested and has been the subject of several Supreme Court decisions. Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) dismissed a civil lawsuit against by-then former president Richard Nixon based on his official actions. Clinton v. Jones (1997) decided that a president has no immunity against civil suits for actions taken before becoming president and ruled that

12375-497: The president to "receive Ambassadors." This clause, known as the Reception Clause, has been interpreted to imply that the president possesses broad power over matters of foreign policy, and to provide support for the president's exclusive authority to grant recognition to a foreign government. The Constitution also empowers the president to appoint United States ambassadors, and to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between

12500-512: The president to recommend such measures to Congress which the president deems "necessary and expedient". This is done through the constitutionally-based State of the Union address, which usually outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year, and through other formal and informal communications with Congress. The president can be involved in crafting legislation by suggesting, requesting, or even insisting that Congress enact laws that

12625-486: The president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act . The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Congress could then repass that particular item. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override

12750-504: The president. The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security . Precedent for the privilege arose early in the 19th century when Thomas Jefferson refused to release military documents in the treason trial of Aaron Burr and again in Totten v. United States 92 U.S. 105 (1876), when

12875-493: The president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law and the responsibility to appoint federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers. Based on constitutional provisions empowering the president to appoint and receive ambassadors and conclude treaties with foreign powers, and on subsequent laws enacted by Congress, the modern presidency has primary responsibility for conducting U.S. foreign policy. The role includes responsibility for directing

13000-404: The previous thirty years worked towards "undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies". She criticized proponents of the unitary executive theory for expanding "the many existing uncheckable executive powers—such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements—that already allow presidents to enact

13125-424: The privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve

13250-503: The privilege in more cases and at earlier stages of the litigation, thus in some instances causing dismissal of the suits before reaching the merits of the claims, as in the Ninth Circuit 's ruling in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions. The degree to which

13375-494: The process for going to war, but critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt 's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War , the Vietnam War , and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989. The amount of military detail handled personally by the president in wartime has varied greatly. George Washington,

13500-451: The process indicators. This again reduced the number and amount of time process operators were needed to walk around the units. The most standard pneumatic signal level used during these years was 3–15 psig. Process control of large industrial plants has evolved through many stages. Initially, control would be from panels local to the process plant. However, this required a large manpower resource to attend to these dispersed panels, and there

13625-410: The process. Latter years, the actual controllers were moved to a central room and signals were sent into the control room to monitor the process and outputs signals were sent to the final control element such as a valve to adjust the process as needed. These controllers and indicators were mounted on a wall called a control board. The operators stood in front of this board walking back and forth monitoring

13750-408: The productive and destructive potential inherent in process control. The ability to make precise, verifiable and reproducible measurements of the natural world, at levels that were not previously observable, using scientific instrumentation, has "provided a different texture of the world". This instrumentation revolution fundamentally changes human abilities to monitor and respond, as is illustrated in

13875-568: The scientific knowledge basis for understanding and predicting fundamental nuclear fuel and cladding performance in nuclear power plants, and applying the information to development of high-performance, high-burnup fuels with improved safety, cladding, integrity, and nuclear fuel cycle economics. This research is further designed to demonstrate each of the technology advancements while satisfying all safety and regulatory limits through rigorous testing and analysis. President of United States [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The president of

14000-487: The size and scope of the federal government, including more executive agencies. The traditionally small presidential staff was greatly expanded, with the Executive Office of the President being created in 1939, none of whom require Senate confirmation. Roosevelt's unprecedented re-election to a third and fourth term, the victory of the United States in World War II , and the nation's growing economy all helped established

14125-731: The system so that the police can be summoned. Communication is an inherent part of the design. Kitchen appliances use sensors for control. Modern automobiles have complex instrumentation. In addition to displays of engine rotational speed and vehicle linear speed, there are also displays of battery voltage and current, fluid levels, fluid temperatures, distance traveled, and feedback of various controls (turn signals, parking brake, headlights, transmission position). Cautions may be displayed for special problems (fuel low, check engine, tire pressure low, door ajar, seat belt unfastened). Problems are recorded so they can be reported to diagnostic equipment . Navigation systems can provide voice commands to reach

14250-408: The system. In a research environment it is common for subject matter experts to have substantial instrumentation system expertise. An astronomer knows the structure of the universe and a great deal about telescopes – optics, pointing and cameras (or other sensing elements). That often includes the hard-won knowledge of the operational procedures that provide the best results. For example, an astronomer

14375-600: The tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910 at Griffith Stadium , Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators's Opening Day . Every president since Taft, except for Jimmy Carter , threw out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch for Opening Day, the All-Star Game , or the World Series , usually with much fanfare. Every president since Theodore Roosevelt has served as honorary president of

14500-407: The veto by its ordinary means, a two-thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York , 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional. For most of American history, candidates for president have sought election on the basis of a promised legislative agenda. Article II, Section 3, Clause 2 requires

14625-520: The veto should only be used in cases where a bill was unconstitutional, it is now routinely used in cases where presidents have policy disagreements with a bill. The veto – or threat of a veto – has thus evolved to make the modern presidency a central part of the American legislative process. Specifically, under the Presentment Clause, once a bill has been presented by Congress, the president has three options: In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance

14750-449: The world's most expensive military , which has the second-largest nuclear arsenal . The president also plays a leading role in federal legislation and domestic policymaking. As part of the system of separation of powers , Article I, Section   7 of the Constitution gives the president the power to sign or veto federal legislation. Since modern presidents are typically viewed as leaders of their political parties, major policymaking

14875-555: Was a significant milestone, as Jackson was not part of the Virginia and Massachusetts elite that had held the presidency for its first 40 years. Jacksonian democracy sought to strengthen the presidency at the expense of Congress, while broadening public participation as the nation rapidly expanded westward. However, his successor, Martin Van Buren , became unpopular after the Panic of 1837 , and

15000-504: Was available as a remedy. As of October 2019, a case was pending in the federal courts regarding access to personal tax returns in a criminal case brought against Donald Trump by the New York County District Attorney alleging violations of New York state law. As head of state , the president represents the United States government to its own people and represents the nation to the rest of the world. For example, during

15125-603: Was made in the Declaration of Independence , which was written predominantly by Thomas Jefferson and adopted unanimously on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress. Recognizing the necessity of closely coordinating their efforts against the British , the Continental Congress simultaneously began the process of drafting a constitution that would bind the states together. There were long debates on

15250-539: Was nearly removed from office, with Congress remaining powerful during the two-term presidency of Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant . After the end of Reconstruction , Grover Cleveland would eventually become the first Democratic president elected since before the war, running in three consecutive elections (1884, 1888, 1892) and winning twice. In 1900, William McKinley became the first incumbent to win re-election since Grant in 1872. After McKinley's assassination by Leon Czolgosz in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became

15375-469: Was no overall view of the process. The next logical development was the transmission of all plant measurements to a permanently staffed central control room. Effectively this was the centralization of all the localized panels, with the advantages of lower manning levels and easy overview of the process. Often the controllers were behind the control room panels, and all automatic and manual control outputs were transmitted back to plant. However, whilst providing

15500-483: Was the first branch of government described in the Constitution , to be the dominant branch of government; however, they did not expect a strong executive department. However, presidential power has shifted over time, which has resulted in claims that the modern presidency has become too powerful, unchecked, unbalanced, and "monarchist" in nature. In 2008 professor Dana D. Nelson expressed belief that presidents over

15625-731: Was the most recent to do so in July 1948, known as the Turnip Day Session . In addition, prior to ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, which brought forward the date on which Congress convenes from December to January, newly inaugurated presidents would routinely call the Senate to meet to confirm nominations or ratify treaties. In practice, the power has fallen into disuse in the modern era as Congress now formally remains in session year-round, convening pro forma sessions every three days even when ostensibly in recess. Correspondingly,

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