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312 records · Page 18

CRITICAL FUNCTION ASSURANCE: Understanding Critical Function and Critical Function Delivery is Foundational for Meaningful ICS Security Improvement and Policy Efforts

Modern life is enabled by a complex and interdependent web of critical functions, including energy, communications, transportation, food, and water. Automation has significantly reduced or replaced human interactions in the delivery of these functions, resulting in a web of goods and services that are made available 24/7 only through unique and intentional deployments of microprocessors, software, and firmware technologies. The prospect of cyber-enabled sabotage of these processes disrupts traditional risk determination models. Critical Function Assurance (CFA) is a foundational approach to identifying, prioritizing, and mitigating the risk that is inherent in the delivery of critical functions that depend on digital technology. It provides rapid focus to what matters most and illuminates elements and areas of risk that otherwise are often overlooked. This focus enables effective application of available security resources and optimizes security strategy and policy efforts. This paper introduces CFA to decision makers and risk executives (including CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and CISOs) whose organizations support and deliver the critical functions that underpin national defense, societal health and safety, and a vibrant economy.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Materials and methods for improved pyrolysis processing

The present disclosure relates to a catalyst that includes a support that includes a metal oxide and a metal deposited on the support, where the metal oxide includes at least one of TiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , CeO 2 , and/or ZrO 2 , the metal includes at least one of Pt, Pd, Ru Rh, Ni, and/or Mo, the metal is in the form of a particle, and the metal is present on the support at a concentration between about 0.1 wt % and about 5.0 wt %.

Griffin, Michael Brandon↗

Freewheeling: What Six Locations, 61,000 Trips, and 242,000 Miles in Colorado Reveal about How E-Bikes Improve Mobility Options

Personal micromobility modes such as bicycles, e-bikes and scooters offer low- or zero-emission transportation alternatives to single occupancy vehicles (SOVs). However, the lack of supporting data has led to a dearth of data-driven research on the usage of personally owned e-bikes, including variations due to weather, geography and demographics. In this paper, we present an overview of the longitudinal findings from the CanBikeCO program, focused on e-bike adoption and use rates across different demographics, trip characteristics, and geographies. The CanBikeCO program recorded travel survey data from late July 2021 to December 31, 2022, from low-income Colorado households who were provided with e-bikes for personal use by the Colorado Energy Office (CEO). This data was collected in six different communities across Colorado following the mini-pilot program that was conducted in Fall 2020. To collect data for the survey, the program used the NREL OpenPATH application, which combines passive data collection with semantic information such as trip mode and purpose labels. To the best of our knowledge, there is no prior travel survey data on personally owned e-bikes with this range and scope. This unique dataset yielded several insights. One is that commute trips among participants had nearly 17% higher shares of e-bikes than all trips combined. E-bikes were stated to most often replace cars (34% of e-bike trips) and personal micromobility (22%). Participants favored walking for trips less than 1 mile, e-bikes for trips 1-3 miles, and e-bikes, cars or shared rides for trips 3-20 miles. Seasonality accounted for a 10% decrease and subsequent recovery in e-bike mileage on a per user basis. E-bikes are also appealing across age groups, even among older individuals, and see decreased utilization similar to regular bikes or walking during winter months. We also find that e-bike use may be related to characteristics of land use and urban form, occupation and income as well as household car ownership. We conclude that, for this population, who are mainly part of low-income households, the emissions added by the use of e-bikes (in the case of replacement of non-motorized modes) are outweighed by the strong single occupancy vehicle (SOV) travel replacement. As a whole, our findings suggest a considerable potential for energy savings and emissions reductions from personal e-bike ownership.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Approach to Quality Assurance for Complex Environmental Modeling - 20407

A strong Quality Assurance (QA) program for complex environmental modeling is essential for regulatory and public acceptance and trust, but it does not have to be onerous. Neptune and Company, Inc. (Neptune) has developed a strong QA program that improves transparency, traceability, reproducibility, and therefore, defensibility and trust. Neptune's QA program has evolved over the past 27 years, transitioning from an ad hoc QA program, to a program that is currently Nuclear Quality Assurance-1 (NQA-1) compliant, and will soon be NQA-1/DOE approved for DOE EM modeling work. In addition, Neptune is a qualified laboratory assessor and qualified auditor for reference materials, a proficiency testing provider, and fully complies with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) QA program. Neptune's President and CEO, Kelly Black, was recently named the Chairperson of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 69, Application of Statistical Methods. A strong QA program has been developed for Neptune's radiological performance assessment (PA) program. Although pieces of their QA program are currently in development, their current program includes document control using Subversion, issue tracking and work flow tracking using JIRA, and transparency and traceability via a system of 'calc sheets' for documentation of all data analysis and modeling combined with 'check print' documentation of QA checking, and rigorous model testing and configuration control. All work is reviewed by an independent subject matter expert who is not associated with the collection and assembly of information, for an internal peer review. The program is enforced with a handful of Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs), Work Instructions, QA Project Plans (QAPPs), and Quality Management Plans (QMPs) that are updated frequently, with required annual training and acknowledgment. In addition, effective communication of modeling approaches and results to clients and stakeholders are integral to their QA program. Many of their models are built using the GoldSim modeling platform, for which their models are well-known for their level of transparency, documentation, and QA traceability. This level of QA is also applied to their process-level models. Neptune has taken some lessons learned from the extremely rigorous QA program required for the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP), and imposed the YMP requirements of complete traceability, transparency, and reproducibility, but avoided the inflexibility of a QA program that likely contributed to the suspect e-mails in 2005 that resulted in loss of trust in the YMP, and in nuclear waste disposal (and nuclear power) in general. There are far too many examples of loss of public trust due to poor QA that could have been easily avoided with a simple and straight-forward QA program combined with stakeholder engagement. The purpose of this paper is to share features of Neptune's Radiological Performance Assessment program QA program, and some of their QA related lessons learned over the past 27 years of QA for complex environmental modeling. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Pultrusion and Vitrimer Composites: Emerging Pathways for Sustainable Structural Materials

Pultrusion is a manufacturing process used to produce fiber-reinforced polymer composites with excellent mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. The resulting materials are lightweight, durable, and corrosion-resistant, making them valuable in aerospace, automotive, construction, and energy sectors. However, conventional thermoset composites remain difficult to recycle due to their infusible and insoluble cross-linked structure. This review explores integrating vitrimer technology a novel class of recyclable thermosets with dynamic covalent adaptive networks into the pultrusion process. As only limited studies have directly reported vitrimer pultrusion to date, this review provides a forward-looking perspective, highlighting fundamental principles, challenges, and opportunities that can guide future development of recyclable high-performance composites. Vitrimers combine the mechanical strength (tensile strength and modulus) of thermosets with the reprocessability and reshaping of thermoplastics through dynamic bond exchange mechanisms. These polymers offer high-temperature reprocessability, self-healing, and closed-loop recyclability, where recycling efficiency can be evaluated by the recovery yield retention of mechanical properties and reuse cycles meeting the demand for sustainable manufacturing. Key aspects discussed include resin formulation, fiber impregnation, curing cycles, and die design for vitrimer systems. The temperature-dependent bond exchange reactions present challenges in achieving optimal curing and strong fiber–matrix adhesion. Recent studies indicate that vitrimer-based composites can maintain structural integrity while enabling recycling and repair, with mechanical performance such as flexural and tensile strength comparable to conventional composites. Incorporating vitrimer materials into pultrusion could enable high-performance, lightweight products for a circular economy. The remaining challenges include optimizing curing kinetics, improving interfacial adhesion, and scaling production for widespread industrial adoption.

Fiber composites↗