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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Laboratory Optimization Tests of Decontamination of Cs, Sr, and Actinides from Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Low Activity Waste Off-Gas Condensate Simulant

The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Low Activity Waste (LAW) vitrification facility will generate an aqueous condensate recycle stream (LAW Off-Gas Condensate) from the off-gas system. The baseline plan for disposition of this stream is to send it to the WTP Pretreatment Facility, where it will be blended with LAW, concentrated by evaporation and recycled to the LAW vitrification facility. Alternate disposition of this stream would eliminate recycling of problematic components, and would enable less integrated operation of the LAW melter and the Pretreatment Facilities. Eliminating this stream from recycling within WTP would also substantially decrease the LAW vitrification mission duration and quantity of glass waste.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

HALEU Decontamination Investigations for EBR-II Recovered Uranium. HALEU Drip Casting Results in the Fuel Conditioning Facility Cathode Processor

Many of the new advanced reactor designs being proposed by the nuclear private sector require uranium fuel enriched between 5 and 20%, otherwise known as High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU), to support their designs. There are currently no commercial facilities based in the United States which have the capability to produce this material, and as a result the nuclear industry has requested support from the Department of Energy (DOE) to meet this need. One approach being considered by DOE to respond to this demand is to recover highly enriched uranium from used nuclear fuels and downblend it to enrichments less than 20 % U-235. DOE’s past research related to liquid metal fast breeder reactors resulted in the irradiation of more than 3 metric tons (MT) of nuclear fuel composed of highly enriched metallic uranium which resides at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This inventory of used nuclear fuel is currently being conditioned using an electrometallurgical treatment process (EMT) to facilitate its eventual disposition to a geologic repository. As part of this treatment process, the highly enriched component of this used fuel is separated, recovered, downblended to <20% U-235, and stored as a metallic uranium ingot. The majority of this fuel was irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) over the course of its 30 years of operation. This sodium cooled fast reactor utilized a core composed of highly enriched, sodium-bonded, metallic fuel to sustain or “drive” the reactor. This EBR-II driver fuel is currently being treated for sodium neutralization in the Fuel Conditioning Facility (FCF) at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) and the metallic uranium recovered as a component of this process has been proposed as a potential source of supply of high assay low enriched uranium. The irradiation of the metallic uranium fuel results in the creation of fission products and some minor actinides which are not compatible with many reuse scenario’s, and introduces significant challenges associated with fabrication of new fuel elements using this material. However, it is believed that the current EMT process can be slightly enhanced to address these concerns and result in the recovery of a product that can be considered as a source of supply for HALEU applications. Based on this, DOE requested the INL research methods to enhance the EMT process to produce a recovered uranium material that has a lower contaminant level and lower radiological dose rate and could be utilized in glovebox based fuel fabrication scenarios. The report that follows documents the progress toward meeting this goal.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Plasmonics-Enhanced Photocatalysis for Water Decontamination

We have successfully shown up to 5x enhancement in reaction rate of photocatalytic decomposition of an organic chemical (methyl orange) dissolved in water, by incorporating a layer of aluminum (Al) plasmonic nanostructures on top of a titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) thin film photocatalyst. The whole sample is immersed in the solution and illuminated with ultraviolet (UV) light. The plasmonics-induced electromagnetic field enhancement drastically increases photo-absorption and electron-hole pair generation at the catalyst surface, thereby enhancing the redox reactions at the catalyst-water interface that break the dissolved organics into non-toxic by-products such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Our results demonstrate that it is indeed feasible to use plasmonics to enhance photochemical reactions. With further optimized plasmonics design and improved fabrication methodology, simulation results suggest rate enhancement factor of over 20x is possible.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

[Europa Lander] Decontamination Methods Trade Study

The following trade study was done to answer the following task from the Sandia JPL Collaboration for Europa Lander Statement of Work: Perform a trade study to assess the feasibility of other sterilization/decontamination methods for reducing forward biological contamination on S/C and assess their suitability for PP applications

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Review of Experimental Decontamination Factors (DF) of Iodine in the Pilot-Scale Law Melter Off-Gas Systems

The Low Activity Waste (LAW) melters at the Hanford Tank Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) will convert low-activity tank wastes containing high concentrations of sodium salts into glass for onsite disposal. Much of the airborne particulates during the calcination/fusion of the feed solids will be removed by condensation and scrubbing of the melter exhaust in the Submerged Bed Scrubber (SBS) and Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP)of the primary off-gas treatment system. The gases exiting the WESP enter a secondary off-gas treatment system, which includes a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter, an activated carbon absorber, a Thermal Catalytic Oxidizer (TCO), a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) unit, a caustic scrubber, and an exhauster. Much of the volatile organics and NOx will be removed in the TCO and SCR, respectively. Under WTP Direct Feed LAW (DFLAW) configuration, the liquid effluents from the SBS and WESP will be collected and evaporated under vacuum with the evaporator concentrate recycled back to the LAW melter, while the evaporator condensate will be merged with the caustic scrubber solution and sent to the Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF).

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

MARSAME Radiological Release Report for Weapons Facility Operations #5 Decontamination and Demolition Project

Environmental Protection and Compliance, Environmental Stewardship (EPC-ES) has identified materials associated with Weapons Facility Operations (WFO) #5 that meet the criteria for unrestricted release to the public under Department of Energy (DOE) Order 458.1, Radiation Protection for the Public and the Environment (DOE, 2020) and materials in one building that did not meet the criteria for unrestricted release and are to be treated as low level waste (LLW). These conclusions are based on the known history of the area combined with radiation survey data data collected in 2022 and 2023. The findings are consistent with DOE Order 458.1 and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Functional Series Document EPC-ES-FSD-004, Environmental Radiation Protection (LANL, 2021). Sampling and data analysis, as described in this report, were sufficient to meet measurement quality objectives (MQOs) under the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Assessment of Materials and Equipment (MARSAME) manual (NUREG, 2009) and LANL procedures (LANL, 2020). Final approvals for waste disposition will come from LANL’s Waste Management Program.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

MARSAME Radiological Release Report for Weapons Facility Operations #4 Decontamination and Demolition Project: TA-14-0005, TA-15-0009, TA-15-0202, TA-15-0233, TA-36-0019

Environmental Protection and Compliance, Environmental Stewardship (EPC-ES) has identified materials associated with Weapons Facility Operations (WFO) #4 that meet the criteria for unrestricted release to the public under Department of Energy (DOE) Order 458.1, Radiation Protection for the Public and the Environment (DOE, 2020) and materials in one building that do not meet the criteria for unrestricted release and are to be treated as low level waste (LLW). These conclusions are based on the known history of the buildings combined with radiation survey data data collected in 2022 and 2023. The findings are consistent with DOE Order 458.1 and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Functional Series Document EPC-ES-FSD-004, Environmental Radiation Protection (LANL, 2021). Sampling and data analysis, as described in this report, were sufficient to meet measurement quality objectives (MQOs) under the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Assessment of Materials and Equipment (MARSAME) manual (NUREG, 2009) and LANL procedures (LANL, 2020). Final approvals for waste disposition will come from LANL’s Waste Management Program. The scope of this final release report includes Technical Area (TA) 14 Building 5 (TA-14-0005), TA-15 Buildings 9, 202, and 233 (TA-15-0009/0202/0233), and TA-36 Building 19 (TA-36-0019). MARSAME provides guidance on statistical sampling for residual radionuclides in bulk materials; smaller, miscellaneous items can be released via the release procedures outlined in LANL Policy 121 Radiation Protection (LANL, 2023).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nanomaterial-Engineered Surfaces for Decontamination of Water Resources

Aggregation-dependent shifts in plasmon frequency (colorimetric sensor); • Local refractive index-dependent shifts in plasmon frequency; • Inelastic (surface-enhanced Raman) light scattering; • Elastic (Rayleigh) light scattering CONCLUSIONS Generate unique classes of nanoscale materials for environmental stewardship applications o Characterization of nanomaterials provides understanding of structural properties for sorption of contaminants o Surface charge influences interaction between nanomaterial and contaminant o Surface charge can be modified to allow for more contaminant sorption • Demonstrate innovative nanomaterial science and technology solutions that meet our environmental stewardship needs: • Detect contaminants • Sequester contaminants

Murph, Simona E. [Savannah River National Laborato↗
DOE OSTI2024

KBase Narrative - Atacama Trench & Sn Clemente 2018 cruise Metagenomes -Decontamination through Metagenomic Fractionation and analysis of Metabolic Potential-

Deep-sea microbiomes sampled with traditional or pressure-retaining instrumentation A fundamental property of life in the sea is that with increasing depth must come increased adaptation to elevated hydrostatic pressures. This project aims to assess technology for the accurate characterization of microbial biodiversity and biochemistry at greater depths, and validate its use in some of the deepest and least-explored waters in the Ocean: Hadal Trench. Compared to the 0.1 megapascal (MPa) of surface waters, organisms inhabiting at the average depth of the Ocean (3800 m) have to deal with pressures of 38 MPa (5,500 psi). The effects of these high pressure have been most thoroughly investigated in microorganisms, where it has been found to affect membrane integrity and transport, cytoskeletal assembly and both DNA and protein synthesis. We will explore the diversity and activity of microorganisms from 2000 m to >8,000 m depths within the highly productive water column of hadal trenches, comparing seawater samples obtained with and without substantial pressure changes during recovery. A pressure retaining device was used to sample the microbial communities of the watercolumn with reduced decompression during retreival (Peoples et. al., 2019). References: Peoples LM, Norenberg M, Price D, McGoldrick M, Novotny M, Bochdansky A, Bartlett DH. A full-ocean-depth rated modular lander and pressure-retaining sampler capable of collecting hadal-endemic microbes under in situ conditions. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 2019 Jan 1;143:50-7.

Plominsky, Alvaro M.↗