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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Direct analysis of cotton swipes for plutonium isotope determination by microextraction-ICP-MS

This study demonstrates a method for determining the isotopic composition of low-level (sub-pg) plutonium (Pu) directly from a cotton swipe. Environmental sample (ES) swipes are routinely employed as a tool for monitoring activities in nuclear facilities. Traditional ES swipe analysis, as employed in nuclear safeguards, utilizes laborious ashing, digestion, and chemical separation procedures prior to mass spectrometric (MS) analysis. Here, an innovative sample introduction technique employing a microextraction probe to extract Pu directly from the swipe surface is described. The microextraction probe lowers onto the swipe surface, seals on a small area (8 mm 2 ), and delivers solvent (2% HNO 3 ) to extract actinide material that may be present. The extracted analyte is subsequently directed into a sector field inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-MS for isotope ratio determination. This microextraction-ICP-MS method successfully determined the isotopic composition ( 240 Pu/ 239 Pu and 242 Pu/ 239 Pu) of three Pu certified reference materials (CRM 136, 137, and 138) that were deposited (1 pg) onto ES swipes. The percent relative difference from the certified value, uncorrected for instrumental fractionation, was <2% for the 240 Pu/ 239 Pu ratio on all three CRMs and <10% for the 242 Pu/ 239 Pu ratio on CRM 136 and 138. Here, the percent relative standard deviation, an estimate of the sample-to-sample isotopic precision, was <4% for the 240 Pu/ 239 Pu and <15% for the 242 Pu/ 239 Pu. Method limits of detection were determined, based on measurements of an enriched 244 Pu material, to be ~7 fg. Additionally, a mixed uranium (U) and Pu deposition was made to determine the method's ability to simultaneously extract U and Pu and determine the isotopic composition of both analytes.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Business Case Analysis for Digital Safety-Related Instrumentation & Control System Modernizations

The commercial nuclear sector faces unprecedented financial challenges driven by low natural gas prices and subsidized renewables in a marketplace that does not reward carbon-free baseload capacity. These circumstances, along with increasingly antiquated labor-centric operating models and analog technology, have forced the premature closure of multiple nuclear facilities and placed a much larger population of nuclear power stations at risk. Nuclear plant economic survival in current and forecasted market conditions requires an efficient and technology-centric operating model that harvests the native efficiencies of advanced technology. This is analogous to transformations in nearly every other industry. In light of previous industry experience in modernizing safety Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) systems, nuclear utilities are reluctant to pursue these upgrades due to uncertainty in licensing and cost.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS2001

Space Fission Propulsion Testing and Development Progress

Successful development of space fission systems will require an extensive program of affordable and realistic testing. In addition to tests related to design/development of the fission system, realistic testing of the actual flight unit must also be performed. Testing can be divided into two categories, non-nuclear tests and nuclear tests. Full power nuclear tests of space fission systems we expensive, time consuming, and of limited use, even in the best of programmatic environments. If the system is designed to operate within established radiation damage and fuel burn up limits while simultaneously being designed to allow close simulation of heat from fission using resistance heaters, high confidence in fission system performance and lifetime can be attained through a series of non-nuclear tests. Non-nuclear tests are affordable and timely, and the cause of component and system failures can be quickly and accurately identified. MSFC is leading a Safe Affordable Fission Engine (SAFE) test series whose ultimate goal is the demonstration of a 300 kW flight configuration system using non-nuclear testing. This test series is carried out in collaboration with other NASA centers, other government agencies, industry, and universities. If SAFE-related nuclear tests are desired they will have a high probability of success and can be performed at existing nuclear facilities. The paper describes the SAFE non-nuclear test series, which includes test article descriptions, test results and conclusions, and future test plans.

VanDyke, Melissa↗
DOE OSTI2022

Digital Infrastructure Industry Engagement

The commercial nuclear sector faces unprecedented financial challenges driven by low natural gas prices and subsidized renewables in a market that does not reward carbon-free baseload capacity. These circumstances, along with increasingly antiquated labor-centric operating models and analog technology, have forced the early closure of multiple nuclear facilities and placed a much larger population of nuclear stations at risk. Nuclear plant economic survival in current and forecasted market conditions requires an efficient and technology-centric operating model that harvests the native efficiencies of advanced technology. This is analogous to transformations that have occurred in other industries.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Pilot Business Case Analysis for Digital Infrastructure

The Inflation Reduction Act Has Provided an Opening to Dramatically Change and Improve the Economics of Nuclear Power Until recently, the commercial nuclear sector has faced unprecedented financial challenges driven by low natural gas prices and subsidized renewables, in a marketplace that did not reward carbon-free baseload capacity. The industry is also plagued by labor shortages, increasingly obsolete labor-centric operating models and antiquated analog technology that threaten the viability of the long-term operations of domestic nuclear facilities. In this context, the economic survival of nuclear power plants requires an efficient and technology-centric operating model that harvests the native efficiencies of advanced technology. Such transformations have been made in many other industries – notably, oil and gas. The passage by Congress of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022 provides nuclear operators with unprecedented economic incentives to pursue these upgrades. To realize the benefits of these incentives and achieve the necessary transformations in the nuclear operating model, the nuclear industry must overcome both the continuing unease about licensing pathways and uncertainty related to implementation costs.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nuclear Science User Facilities FY 2020 Program Performance Summary

The Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) first gathered and reported metric data for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The goal of the FY 2014 NSUF Metric Report was to establish metric measures and to provide baseline data to evaluate future performance of the NSUF. Each metric goal and objective was established through NSUF discussions with Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office and Office of Nuclear Energy staff. This report provides the data, analysis, and conclusions for the FY 2020 metrics.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nuclear Science User Facilities FY 2019 Program Performance Summary

The Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) first gathered and reported metric data for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The goal of the FY 2014 NSUF Metric Report was to establish metric measures and to provide baseline data to evaluate future performance of the NSUF. Each metric goal and objective were established through NSUF discussions with Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office and Office of Nuclear Energy staff. This report provides the data, analysis, and conclusions for the FY 2019 metrics.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Radiological HEPA Filter 10-year Lifetime Evaluation in Research Facilities

High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are widely employed by nuclear facilities to remove radiological particulate matter from their effluent exhaust streams. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationships between the 10-year HEPA filter lifetime deployment and its other performance indicators. This 10-year-long endeavor to collect and analyze data regarding the service life of HEPA filters at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory began in 2010. A set of HEPA filters were selected and have been surveyed and analyzed at least annually to verify compliance with permit conditions. The study suggests the frequency of filter replacement should be based on the actual operational requirements, such as fume hood face velocity and/or efficiency test results, instead of on the prescribed filter “age limit” of 10 years from the date of manufacture (e.g., birth date) when operating under dry conditions. The study has now been completed, and over the past decade all the HEPA filters have been replaced, due to either technical issues as listed in this report or the previously recommended filter “age limit” of 10 years as prescribed by the oversight bodies. Experimentally determined failure rates are also determined from the data set and can be used to estimate the chances of HEPA filters surviving 15, 20, or even 30 years.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Self-powered Through-wall communication for dry cask storage monitoring

Many nuclear facilities, such as spent fuel storage dry casks and nuclear reactor pressure vessels, are entirely sealed by metal layers to prevent harmful radiation. For safety and security operations, the temperature, pressure, radiation, and humidity inside the vessel needs to be closely monitored. However, no practical technology is currently available to realize the through-wall data communication and monitoring for these vessels due to the inside harsh environment of high temperature and nuclear radiation. In this paper, an innovative self-powered wireless through-wall data communication system for the nuclear environment is presented, which demonstrates a successful solution to such challenges. The presented system is composed of four modules, i.e., energy harvester with power management circuits, ultrasound wireless communication using high-temperature piezoelectric transducers, electronic circuits for sensing and data transmission, and radiation shielding for electronics. Here, constitutive functions of each module were firstly designed and followed by the system integration. Experiments were conducted subsequently to validate the designed functions and evaluate the performance of the integrated system. Results showed that the average power of over 40 mW was harvested from the thermal flow inside the nuclear spent fuel canisters which could provide enough energy to operate the sensing and data communication systems. The gamma radiation test results showed that the thermoelectric energy harvester and ultrasound transceivers can withstand radiation dosing over 100 Mrad. Furthermore, temperature shock tests demonstrated that the entire system including the shielded electronics can survive and maintain their functionalities at temperatures as high as 195°C. Under the in-lab mocked-up high temperature conditions and radiation shielding, the proposed system is foreseen to survive and operate stably for fifty years inside a nuclear spent fuel canister, and send the frequency modulated data out of the canister for 3 s in every 10 min.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Methods for the Enhancement of Security Probabilistic Risk Assessments

The US Department of Energy is exploring the methods associated with probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and how they could be used to enhance physical security evaluations for nuclear facilities. A brief review of both international and US Nuclear Regulatory Commission physical security assessment methods is presented. From this review, and with an understanding of the technical elements associated with a traditional nuclear safety PRA, several observations are made pertaining to where physical security analysis methods could be enhanced. These observations principally support and enhance the answers within a physical security context to the risk triplet: (1) What can go wrong? (2) What is the likelihood? and (3) What are the consequences? Finally, benefits and technical challenges toward the development of a full security PRA are presented.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2022

Investigation of INL Site Implementation of ARG-US

The Packaging Certification and Life Cycle Management department at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) developed a suite of monitoring systems collectively referred to here as ARG-US. ARG-US is used to provide necessary data for nuclear facility and system operation and maintenance. ARG-US has been previously demonstrated in hot cells, radioactive material (RAM) storage areas, and RAM shipment trucks. It has also been installed directly on RAM storage and shipment containers. ARG-US offers some unique advantages over other commercially available systems by using wireless data connections, battery power supplies, and customizable monitoring methods. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been tasked with investigating applications for ARG-US at INL site facilities, which are operated by several different contractors. The initial investigation scope centered on CPP-603 Wet & Dry Fuel Storage Facility in relation to the upcoming DOE Spent (SNF) Packaging Demonstration. The investigation has been led by the Used Fuel Management Department in the Nuclear Science and Technology Directorate. This investigation is expected to recommend processes or facilities at the INL site at which to implement ARG-US systems. INL has engaged local site technical and oversite representatives, security, nuclear safeguards, and program management to identify good candidates for ARG-US test implementations. INL has identified high-level goals for any INL site implementation of ARG-US: provide unique testing environments, prompt development of new monitoring methods/techniques for the ARG-US suite, and acquire useful monitoring for the user facility. To these ends, INL suggests 3 program areas for further investigation: CPP-603 Fuel Handling Cave (FHC), legacy mixed waste storage systems at Idaho Nuclear Technology & Engineering Center (INTEC) known as the “tank farm”, and periodic and emergency environmental monitoring. This progress report relates activities undertaken in this investigation, describes the preliminary areas of interest for limited scope ARG-US testing or implementation, and relays expected actions needed to complete the task scope. This report offers an opportunity to the program sponsor, technical leads at ANL, and INL site representatives to give feedback on the initial assessment and make recommendations on the forthcoming activities.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Considerations in Proliferation Resistance Optimization of Medical Isotope Facilities

The U.S. Proliferation Resistance and Optimization (PRO-X) program provides a framework for design optimization of a system, component, or feature of a nuclear facility to minimize potential Special Nuclear Material production and diversion pathways while optimizing system performance for peaceful, asintended missions.

Groden, Nicholas D.↗
DOE OSTI2022

SOFIA: Spectrometer Optimized for Facility Integrated Applications

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers developed the Spectrometer Optimized for Facility Integrated Applications (SOFIA) for new capabilities in non-destructive nuclear material analysis, nuclear data measurements, and actinide science. SOFIA is the first ultra-high resolution gamma spectrometer technology based on low-temperature microcalorimeter designs. By precisely measuring the gamma rays passively emitted from radioactive and nuclear materials, SOFIA provides rapid, completely nondestructive analysis to improve the economics and timeliness of nuclear material analysis by reducing reliance on costly sampling and destructive analysis. By developing the first compact instrument based on ultrahigh resolution microcalorimeter gamma spectroscopy, the researchers intended to bring this technology into practical use in nuclear facilities and analytical laboratories.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Iodine Vapor Reactions with Pure Metal Wires at Temperatures of 100–139 °C in Air

In this work, I 2(g) reactions with 11 metal wires (i.e., Al, Ag, Cu, In, Mo, Nb, Ni, Pd, Pt, Sn, Ta) were evaluated at three temperatures (i.e., 100 ± 3°C, 123 ± 4°C, 139 ± 5°C) with exposure times of 24 hours at each temperature. Over these temperatures, some of the metals showed increased mass gain with higher temperatures (i.e., In, Ag, Cu), Sn showed decreased iodine capture at increased temperatures, and most metals (i.e., Mo, Nb, Ni, Pd, Pt, and Ta) showed little to no mass gain at all temperatures. Silver mordenite (AgZ) was used as a standard during these studies and showed a consistent mass gain (m% I ) of 10.6 → 12.8% over this temperature range. The values of mass of iodine captured per mass of starting metal (g g -1 ) ranged widely across the study with the highest values achieved for (in descending order) Sn-T 100°C (4.37), In-T 139°C (3.34), Sn-T 123°C (1.98), In-T 123°C (1.57), Ag-T 139°C (1.19), In-T 100°C (0.97), and Cu-T 139°C (0.71). In some cases, the metal-iodide complex was not stable at the experimental temperature and it was clear some volatility had occurred during the experiment based on discoloration in the vials. These results show that some metals can have extensive reactions with I 2(g) without showing metal-iodide preferences over metal-oxide formation based on thermodynamic predictions. It is possible that materials such as these could be implemented near nuclear facilities to getter I 2(g) in the event of a nuclear accident.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cost- and Risk-Based Seismic Design Optimization of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Systems

Seismic analysis, design, and qualification of systems, structures, and components (SSCs) is a significant contributor to the capital cost of a nuclear power plant. To reduce capital costs of advanced nuclear power plants and make commercial nuclear energy more competitive, innovations are needed in their structural design and construction, and not just in the reactor core and associated systems. Seismic isolation has been identified as an important cost-cutting technology that enables standardization of equipment across various sites. This paper develops and demonstrates a cost- and risk-based seismic design optimization of a representative safety system in a nuclear power plant with the dual goals of minimizing overnight capital cost and meeting safety goals. The design optimization can also include component seismic isolation, in which case, the optimized design includes a set of equipment that needs to be seismically isolated to minimize capital cost. The open-source codes MASTODON and Dakota are used for seismic probabilistic risk assessment and design optimization, respectively. A generic nuclear facility with a safety system comprising SSCs that are common to nuclear power plants is considered for the demonstration of the design optimization and is assumed to be located at the Idaho National Laboratory site. Generic costs and seismic design cost functions are assumed for the SSCs of the safety system. The sum of the costs of the SSCs is minimized in the optimization process, while the risk of failure of the safety system is provided as a constraint. Furthermore, results show that the optimization process reduces capital costs significantly while automatically prioritizing the safety of SSCs that contribute most to the risk of the safety system.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nuclear Enterprise Science & Technology (NEST) [Slides]

The NEST Certificate Program is designed to provide students with the skills and experience to qualify for entry-level positions in nuclear facilities as Fissile Material Handler and/or Glovebox Operator. The program goal is to provide for a technically qualified workforce who can execute a variety of programmatic work in modern nuclear materials handling and processing facilities. The program is designed to be completed in a minimum of 1 year (2 semesters) of university level courses (30 credit hours). A certificate will be offered and awarded through the University of New Mexico – Los Alamos (UNM-LA). NEST is unique in that it is an immersive education program. The NNSA-required training for nuclear material handlers and fissionable material handlers has been cross-walked with the educational Core Curricula. Academic content will be delivered that provides background scientific and engineering understanding of the fundamental concepts behind this training. It will be offered as a Pilot Program to an incumbent cohort to ensure that the Certificate meets programmatic needs. NEST is modelled after a Wharton County Junior College (Texas) program to attract and produce nuclear reactor operators.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Outreach to Industry on Safeguards by Design Concept for Small Modular Reactors

"Safeguards by Design" (SBD) is the process of incorporating safeguards features into the design of a nuclear facility during the design stage. The goal of SBD is to increase the safeguardability of a facility, which is a qualitative measure of the degree of ease with which a nuclear energy system can be effectively and efficiently placed under international safeguards. During the past decade, the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Next Generation Safeguards Initiative funded the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Brookhaven National Laboratory, and several consultants to develop the Facility Safeguardability Assessment (FSA) process. FSA is a screening process used by a facility designer to focus attention on the aspects of their facility or process design that would most benefit from application of SBD principles and practices. The process identifies the most relevant guidance within the SBD tools for enhancing the safeguardability of the design. During FY 2014, NNSA sponsored BNL and LANL to introduce the FSA to Westinghouse designers of their small modular nuclear power plant design. This report documents the interactions with Westinghouse Electric Company LLC ("Westinghouse") staff. The report describes the Westinghouse safeguards design concept with a view towards eventual application of the FSA to their design.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗