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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Calista Energy Management Assistance Initiative

The Calista Energy Management Assistance Initiative (CEMAI) provided technical assistance and capacity building for 56 Tribal communities in the Calista Region of Alaska as an effort to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, enhance human capacity, and job opportunities. CEMAI catalyzed and guided numerous efforts into a consolidated and effective initiative that brought rural energy best practices, economies of scale, operational efficiencies, human capacity, and economic development to the forefront. Calista Corporation (Calista) is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in the settlement of aboriginal land claims. Calista was incorporated in Alaska on June 12, 1972. The Calista Region covers Alaska’s Bethel and Kusilvak (formerly Wade Hampton) Census areas and includes 56 communities. Calista partnered with Nuvista Light and Electric Cooperative (Nuvista) on the Department of Energy, Office of Indian Energy (DOE-OIE), CEMAI project. Nuvista is a non-profit that seeks to reduce energy costs and provide renewable sources of energy to the people of western Alaska. It is founded and led by a non-profit, Tribe, Native Corporations (including Calista), energy organizations, and Alaska Native stakeholders in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YK-D) Region; covering the same service boundaries and communities served by Calista. This partnership allowed Calista to direct the project work with local energy experts to respond to community needs. In this arrangement, Calista added credibility and regional accountability while Nuvista added energy-specific expertise and skill set in project management. The delivery of the CEMAI Workplan included short-term or on-demand responses to specific technical assistance requests from communities in addition to longer-term strategically directed activities such as workshops, coordinated training, and capacity development efforts across the region. CEMAI’s Workplan aimed to enhance communities’ readiness for establishing renewable energy projects and implementing energy efficiency initiatives. The CEMAI objectives included: (1) Identifying common operational needs and improvement opportunities for entities with an energy interest or responsibility. (2) Providing access to multi-level expertise to address existing challenges. (3) Developing specialized training programs to build local capacity and community readiness. (4) Nurturing the creation of regional support networks. (5) Increasing access to regional, state, and federal energy initiatives, funding, and expertise. (6) Improving technical skills, provide livable wages, and job opportunities.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program FY 2020 Annual Summary of Completed Projects

ORNL has established a program with four complementary subprograms to meet its LDRD objectives and to fulfill the particular needs of the laboratory. A provision for multiple routes of access to ORNL LDRD funds maximizes the likelihood that novel ideas with scientific and technological merit will be recognized and supported. The ORNL LDRD Program comprises the following four subprograms: 1) The Director’s R&D Program supports projects that advance research frontiers, capabilities, and expertise at ORNL in key strategic areas. 2) The Seed Program supports innovative high-risk/high-reward research to the proof-of-principle stage. 3) The Strategic Hire Program supports the research of key new staff whose expertise and capabilities address a critical strategic need for the laboratory. 4) The Distinguished Staff Fellowships assist the laboratory in bringing in exceptional early-career scientists to refresh and expand its scientific and technical expertise. The total ORNL LDRD Program budget authorized by DOE for FY 2020 was $\$$55 million. FY 2020 allocations totaled $\$$52.5 million and supported 153 projects. An additional $\$$95,827 was allocated to administrative costs for conducting proposal reviews. Overall, 96.4% of the allocated funds were spent. The expenditure of $\$$50.6 million was about 3.2% of the laboratory’s total budget of $\$$1,572 million for operating and capital expenses, which is well below the maximum of 6% allowed by DOE Order 413.2C and is in accordance with Section 309 of Division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

High-Performance Low-Cobalt Cathode Materials for Li-ion Batteries

The layer-structured Li[Ni x Co y Mn 1-x-y ]O 2 (NCM) cathode materials have been the best choice for increasing electric vehicle driving distance per charge. The high Ni layered oxide represents successfully commercialized NCM cathodes (such as NCM622 and NCA) in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for EV applications due to their high energy density and acceptable cycling stability. However, the price of cobalt, the key element within LIBs for stability, has nearly tripled over the past few years due to increased demand from the cell phone industry. As mentioned in the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement, the current materials shortage will also cause speculation for a future global shortage. Therefore, to meet the requirement and sustainability of the next-generation long-range and low-cost EVs, developing cathode materials with low-Co content to achieve higher energy density and lower cost is both essential and urgent. The overarching objective of this work is to develop stabilized NCM cathode materials with low Co content (namely LiNi x Co y Mn 1-x-y O 2 , y ≤ 0.04) to meet DOE’s goal of reducing Co loading below 50 mg Wh -1 while maintaining energy density greater than 600 Wh kg -1 based on cathode material. Via various dopings and coatings scalable methods, we explored and enhanced the cycling performance of low-cobalt cathodes. The final obtained NCM cathodes paired with graphite anode aim to deliver batteries with a high initial specific energy density of over 240 Wh kg -1 and a low capacity fading rate of less than 20% in 1000 cycles under a C/3 discharge rate. To accomplish this goal, a multidisciplinary team with several co-investigators has been formed from three organizations: The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The PI and co-investigators are Dr. Donghai Wang (PI) from PSU with expertise in the synthesis of nanostructured materials and manipulation of interfacial properties of electrochemically active materials, Dr. Jagjit Nanda, with substantial knowledge of and expertise in state-of-the-art cathodes from ORNL, Dr. Chao-Yang Wang with significant experience in advanced cell design and fabrication and cell diagnostics from PSU, and Dr. Chongmin Wang with world-wide known expertise of advance atomic scale characterization of electrode materials from PNNL. Furthermore, this project will leverage and synergistically work with the current DOE-funded programs on battery materials at PSU and ORNL and electrode materials characterization at PNNL. During this funded period, we have accomplished milestones stated as follows: • Scale up production of LiFePO 4 (LFP) coated NCM811 with a production of 300g/batch. Fifteen (≥2 Ah) pouch cells with LFP-coated NCM811 cathode are delivered. Self-evaluated pouch cells in PSU show superior over 80% capacity retention performance even after 1500 cycles at C/3 rate. • Various cations (Al, Ti, Zr, and Mo) substitute cobalt in low-cobalt partially and Co-free cathodes. Their effects on crystal structure and electrochemical behavior are explored. • Phosphate compounds as coating materials represent promising surface protection precursors for low-cobalt cathode materials. Therefore, several metal phosphates were selected for improving the NMC cycling performance and are regarded as effective approaches for a scalable and practical surface protection method. • Production of NCM92, where Nickel content is 92% among transition metals, is scaled up from synthesis to coating and heat treatment procedures. Fifteen 2.7Ah pouch cells with Ti-doped NCM92 cathodes and industrial graphite anode are delivered to Idaho National Lab for testing.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exhibit D Scope of Work and Technical Specifications MOX Rod Reduction

PROJECT/PROGRAM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), here after referred to as the CONTRACTOR, plans to provide NQA-1 service and support for the disposition of PF-4 basement inventory of Areva fuel rods. These fuel rods need to be reduced in length for proper shipping and disposition. The objective of this acquisition is to enter into an agreement with a SUBCONTRACTOR that shall provide expertise, materials, input for procurement of specialized tooling to be identified, and mockups for size reduction and FS65 disposition. Handling and size reduction of the Areva rods would take place at LANL. Physical work at LANL will be performed by the CONTRACTOR’s field execution team, portions of this work will have expertise provided by the SUBCONTRACTOR. As cited below via an add alternative and supplemental site visit(s) to LANL the CONTRACTOR may request the SUBCONTRACTOR to ship the necessary transportation, handling and packaging equipment at the SUBCONTRACTOR’s location to the CONTRACTOR’s facility for size reduction activities at LANL by the CONTRACTOR’s self-perform field execution team. In addition, the SUBCONTRACTOR shall provide subject matter expertise to CONTRACTOR personnel cutting the mockup Areva Fuel Rod at LANL as a rehearsal prior to CONTRACTOR cutting the actual MOX Fuel Rod if this add alternative is exercised.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Scaling Up: Demonstrating Risk Reduction and Cost Compression for Commercial Heat Pump Water Heaters - CRADA 625 (Abstract)

Commercial heat pump water heater (CHPWH) systems significantly decarbonize the commercial and multifamily sectors by eliminating the reliance on gas-fired water heating. CHPWH systems are also well suited to include load shift controls that enable load-up and shed commands for supporting grid reliability and time-of-use pricing structure. However, they have not had wide adoption due to factors including price, complexity, and perceived risk. Although CHPWHs have been available in the US for decades, they have not made significant market gains in part because the systems have required significant and costly engineering design expertise and proved lackluster performance. Successful widespread market adoption requires a different approach; a shift from the current custom specialized expertise project design and installation to a repeatable approach that requires little specialized knowledge or expertise and can deliver persistent performance. Using this type of holistic systems approach requires effectively integrating four CHPWH system key components: primary air-to-water heat pumps; primary thermal storage tanks, a temperature maintenance system, and a control system which has capabilities to manage the primary heat pump cycles, any back-up, supplemental, or temperature maintenance heating, alarms, and grid connectivity allowing for demand response (DR), and/or load shifting. The project team has developed and will implement a suite of tools to support faster, less expensive, and more reliable field installations of CHPWH technology and with the resulting data used to further improve the tool set. These tools include: (1) A tool for optimizing system size and costs. (2) A tool that predicts annual energy use and overall system efficiency. (3) The Advanced Water Heater Specification (AWHS 8.0) defining the components of a full CHPWH system addressing performance requirements by climate zone. (4) The Qualified Products List: (QPL) of approved products that meet the specifications requirements. (5) Training materials including online on-demand modules, instructor-led training, and virtual interactive video tours of CHPWH installations in multifamily buildings. Demonstration site identification in low-income buildings in underserved communities is currently underway. Preliminarily, the team anticipates having three demonstrations in the Pacific Northwest and three in the Northeast for a total of six sites. After the demonstration sites are finalized, and M&V instrumentation installations are complete, the team will gather performance data and confirm whether the CHPWH systems perform as predicted and use the data to improve the existing tools.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wide Bandgap Generation (WBGen): Developing the Future Wide Bandgap Power Electronics Engineering Workforce

This Final Technical Report (FTR) summarizes the work conducted at the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) under the Wide-Bandgap Generation (WBGen) fellowship and traineeship program established by the Advanced Manufacturing and Technologies Office (AMMTO) of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at Virginia Tech, which had as main objective to train the next generation of U.S. citizen power engineers with wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor expertise, with the intent to aid in fulfilling the future workforce needs in this field. The latter was deemed of strategic importance given the fast-paced growth observed—and predicted—in the demand of this technical expertise, whose practitioners have become the enablers and executioners of the electrification transformation process that not just the U.S., but the whole world, is currently undergoing as it seeks for more effective and efficient ways to use energy. As such, the WBGen program set forth to achieve its educational goals, which in addition sought to broaden the range of WBG-based power electronics by conducting research and development on high-efficiency grid apparatus and high-efficiency electrical power systems, and to also enhance the power engineering curriculum by formalizing WBG-oriented design procedures replacing existent yet now obsolete design procedures developed for Silicon (Si) based power electronics. This effort led CPES to spearhead the development of a new major within The Bradley Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at Virginia Tech, namely Electronic Power and Energy Systems (EPES), which coalesced power electronics and power systems courses to provide undergraduate students with a strong formation in the power engineering field, while creating a pipeline of graduate students that could pursue the WBG-based curriculum and conduct research at CPES. In all, in what is considered a true success, eight of the twenty WBGen fellows that graduated program were recruited from the ECE department undergraduate cohort. The traineeship emphasized as well, from its beginning, the partnership with industry and national laboratories, which took advantage of the successful industry consortium at CPES that has historically been formed by 80–90 power and energy companies working in close collaboration with the center. This gave WBGen fellows the accessibility and possibility to conduct internships at partner facilities during the summer months, focused solely on the evaluation, testing, and adoption of WBG devices, which were many times tightly related to their respective research work and plans. In addition, WBGen fellows conducted their main research work within the confines of research programs at CPES conducted with these industry partners, providing them with a unique opportunity to develop not just their technical expertise—while advancing their knowledge, but to also learn and practice a slew of skills needed for their professional growth. As such, the fellows tackled a variety of WBG-related research topics, from device reliability and capability aspects as well as packaging and integration, encompassing the use of advanced materials and new structures, current sharing challenges, and insulation systems, to advanced gate-drivers with integrated sensors and protection mechanisms and active current- and voltage-based control, to optimized layouts seeking to maximize the switching and power processing performance of these devices, to power processing solutions adopting Gallium-Nitride (GaN) and Silicon-Carbide (SiC) power semiconductors for a variety of applications; including radiation-hardened converters for space dc distribution systems, direct three-phase ac-to-ac power converters for aerospace systems, dc-ac inverters for automotive traction drives, high-frequency isolated dc-dc battery chargers also for heavy transportation systems, and medium-voltage dc-dc and dc-ac converters for distribution systems and future power grids. The WBGen program ultimately graduated a total of 20 power engineers, all experts on WBG-based power electronics, awarding 18 M.S. and 2 PhD degrees in the process. These fellows, all U.S. citizens, allowed CPES to increase the number of citizens students to 33 % at the peak of the program, as the traineeship made possible the recruitment of talent with more attractive graduate research assistantship (GRA) contracts. Unfortunately, the present U.S. citizen enrollment at CPES has declined back to historic levels—approximately 10 %, as the regular GRA rates are not competitive enough when compared with entry-level industry jobs. In all, WBGen fellows published a total of 7 peer-reviewed journal articles, 44 papers at international technical conferences, made 42 presentations at international technical conferences, and filed 4 invention disclosures and patent applications, which have since then been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Their contribution to CPES, Virginia Tech, the United States, and the world, has been significant, and continues to yield results thanks to the exemplary career that the fellows have initiated at many of the partners of the program, which include Wolfspeed, Raytheon Technologies, Infineon, Lockheed Martin, Dominion Energy, Northrop Grumman, Rivian, Aerospace Corporation, Sandia National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, John Hopkins University, and Virginia Tech.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Design of Novel Hot Gas Component for Gas Turbine Engines Enabled by Materials and Additive Manufacturing Process Development

This CRADA project was the result of a project award under FOA-DOE-0001980. The overarching FOA project team consisted of researchers from Carpenter Technology Corporation (CTC), Solar Turbines Incorporated (Solar), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Evaluations were conducted on two high-γ’ superalloys that were designed by CTC and the UCSB. One alloy named GammaPrint-700 (GP-700) is a cobalt-base superalloy. The other alloy named GammaPrint-1100 (GP-1100) is a nickel-base (Ni-base) superalloy. PSU provided expertise and experimental testing of the thermal performance of AM micro-cooling architectures. ORNL provided expertise with the AM superalloy materials characterization and AM processing science. Solar provided turbine component design expertise. The focus of this CRADA report is to document the efforts between ORNL and CTC towards the development of superalloys designed for AM. The project goal was to use an AM processable high-temperature superalloy and design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) techniques to design an efficient turbine component (i.e. a turbine tip shoe) with enhanced cooling features that can only be fabricated through additive manufacturing (AM). The efficiencies of existing combined heat and power (CHP) engines are capped by both component design and materials limitations. However, AM of a tip shoe component from a γ’strengthened superalloy offers the design flexibility to increase the efficiency and power of an industrial gas turbine. This project brought about advancements in the DfAM tip shoe design space and in the area of high temperature superalloys processable through laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) AM. State of art computation design tools were utilized to optimize unique cooling features into a tip shoe component design. A two-prong materials development approach was taken to support development of the AM tip shoe geometry. The first approach centered on investigating the processability and the appropriate process science for the industry standard high-γ’ nickel-base (Ni-base) superalloy Mar-M247. This superalloy is typically cast and considered non-weldable by traditional welding standards. In the course of this work, the alloy was not deemed feasible for process scale-up due to significant cracking issues during printing. The second approach focused on the development and evaluation of a novel cobalt-base superalloy, GammaPrint™-700 (GP-700 and a Ni-base superalloy, GammaPrint™-1100 (GP-1100) designed to mitigate the significant AM processing issues with Mar-M247. The processability of these two alloys were investigated through electron beam melting (EBM) binder-jet AM (BJAM), and LPBF as a risk mitigation for manufacturability. To be considered a candidate material for down-selection to proceed to full-scale AM tip shoe engine testing trials, the high temperature creep rupture strength was required to achieve at a minimum, a Larsen Miller Parameter (LMP) increase of 10.9% over the baseline material LPBF AM Hastelloy X.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Design of Novel Hot Gas Component for Gas Turbine Engines Enabled by Materials and Additive Manufacturing Process Development

This CRADA project was the result of a project award under FOA-DOE-0001980. The overarching FOA project team consisted of researchers from Carpenter Technology Corporation (CTC), Solar Turbines Incorporated (Solar), Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Evaluations were conducted on two high-γ’ superalloys that were designed by CTC and the UCSB. One alloy named GammaPrint-700 (GP-700) is a cobalt-base superalloy. The other alloy named GammaPrint-1100 (GP-1100) is a nickel-base (Ni-base) superalloy. PSU provided expertise and experimental testing of the thermal performance of AM micro-cooling architectures. ORNL provided expertise with the AM superalloy materials characterization and AM processing science. Solar provided turbine component design expertise. The focus of this CRADA report is to document the efforts between ORNL and CTC towards the development of superalloys designed for AM. The project goal was to use an AM processable high-temperature superalloy and design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) techniques to design an efficient turbine component (i.e. a turbine tip shoe) with enhanced cooling features that can only be fabricated through additive manufacturing (AM). The efficiencies of existing combined heat and power (CHP) engines are capped by both component design and materials limitations. However, AM of a tip shoe component from a γ’strengthened superalloy offers the design flexibility to increase the efficiency and power of an industrial gas turbine. This project brought about advancements in the DfAM tip shoe design space and in the area of high temperature superalloys processable through laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) AM. State of art computation design tools were utilized to optimize unique cooling features into a tip shoe component design. A two-prong materials development approach was taken to support development of the AM tip shoe geometry. The first approach centered on investigating the processability and the appropriate process science for the industry standard high-γ’ nickel-base (Ni-base) superalloy Mar-M247. This superalloy is typically cast and considered non-weldable by traditional welding standards. In the course of this work, the alloy was not deemed feasible for process scale-up due to significant cracking issues during printing. The second approach focused on the development and evaluation of a novel cobalt-base superalloy, GammaPrint™-700 (GP-700 and a Ni-base superalloy, GammaPrint™-1100 (GP-1100) designed to mitigate the significant AM processing issues with Mar-M247. The processability of these two alloys were investigated through electron beam melting (EBM) binder-jet AM (BJAM), and LPBF as a risk mitigation for manufacturability. To be considered a candidate material for down-selection to proceed to fullscale AM tip shoe engine testing trials, the high temperature creep rupture strength was required to achieve at a minimum, a Larsen Miller Parameter (LMP) increase of 10.9% over the baseline material LPBF AM Hastelloy X.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

NCERC 2024 Highlights

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is entrusted with ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile while advancing programs aimed at reducing global nuclear proliferation. These critical mission objectives are achieved through the expertise of a highly skilled team of professionals. The operations at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) play a vital role in developing and enhancing knowledge and expertise in advanced nuclear technologies. NCERC supports a wide range of mission areas, including nuclear criticality safety, nuclear emergency response, and nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, and arms control. It also provides support to the Department of Homeland Security, advances stockpile stewardship science, and delivers scientific expertise to other government agencies, such as NASA and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. NCERC conducts experiments utilizing diverse nuclear materials, from small neutron-emitting sources for testing radiation detection equipment to larger quantities of uranium and plutonium for criticality experiments. A cornerstone of NCERC's mission portfolio includes the operation of four critical mass assembly machines—Planet, Comet, Flattop, and Godiva-IV—which are instrumental in advancing nuclear science and ensuring the nation’s nuclear security objectives.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Briefing Human Reliability Analysis Tasks in the KINS-INL Project

Under the SPP with Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) (SPP No. 24SP91), INL research team has a plan to visit KINS on December 3, 2024 and have a project meeting with KINS in-person. INL researchers will give this presentation about what we have done on Task 2 under the contract as below. Task 2: Support KINS in the treatment of human actions. INL efforts consist of: Provide technical expertise on recovery analysis based on INL’s methods or recent research Provide technical expertise on dependency analysis based on INL’s methods or recent research Provide technical expertise on analyzing the effects of HSI degradation on operator actions

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry workforce in the United States

The disciplines of radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry have direct applications in the fields of national security, nuclear medicine, nuclear power production, and environmental management. Although, often, nuclear and radiochemistry are grouped together and many experts work in both areas, the definition for each field is slightly different. For example, radiochemistry may be defined as the application of the phenomena of radioactive decay and techniques common to nuclear physics so as to solve problems in the field of chemistry. In contrast, nuclear chemistry may be defined as the application of procedures and techniques common to chemistry to study the structure of the atomic nucleus. This chapter provides a brief update of the current state of, and critical U.S. needs for, nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry expertise as the Assuring a Future U.S.-Based Nuclear and Radiochemistry Expertise report was published by National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2012.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2025

Under-capacitated and over-powered? Rural austerity and asymmetrical negotiating relationships in US wind energy development

Though rural local governments are central actors in renewable energy development, local governments in the United States (US) remain systematically under-funded. This paper considers what the manifestations of austerity in local governments broadly and rural localities specifically mean for renewable energy development and for energy transitions. Drawing on a survey of 262 elected county officials with experience with wind energy in eight US states, this paper asks how local officials understand the impacts of wind development, how local governments are involved in wind energy negotiations, how the resources and expertise needed to navigate negotiations are distributed among counties, and analyze the relationship between local capacity, access to resources, and involvement in negotiations. We find that local officials express simultaneously affective and material concerns with the impacts of wind development and see negotiations with the developer as central to realizing local benefits. However, the expertise and staffing needed to negotiate with developers is less accessible to poorer or sparsely populated counties, and counties with lower overall revenues have narrower scopes of negotiation, and counties incre. Our results suggest that uneven rural capacity heightens an already asymmetrical relationship between localities and developers. In analyzing how infrastructure developments are shaped by relationships between localities and developers that are conditioned by austerity and (under)capacity, this paper contributes to and bridges scholarly discussions on rural austerity, rescaling, and renewable energy transitions. These results challenge conventional wisdoms around centralizing energy siting processes, contextualize popular and academic debates about opposition to renewable energy development, and highlight the need for rural reinvestment to realize meaningfully participatory energy developments.

Elmallah, Salma↗
DOE OSTI2025

Corrigendum to ‘Under-capacitated and over-powered? Rural austerity and asymmetrical negotiating relationships in US wind energy development’ [J. Rural Stud., 119 (2025) 1–14]

The authors regret that there is an incomplete sentence in the abstract of the article, and request that the portion “, and counties incre” be deleted from the abstract (found at the end of the sentence beginning with “However …”). The portion to be deleted is underlined and bolded below. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. Current abstract: Though rural local governments are central actors in renewable energy development, local governments in the United States (US) remain systematically under-funded. This paper considers what the manifestations of austerity in local governments broadly and rural localities specifically mean for renewable energy development and for energy transitions. Drawing on a survey of 262 elected county officials with experience with wind energy in eight US states, this paper asks how local officials understand the impacts of wind development, how local governments are involved in wind energy negotiations, how the resources and expertise needed to navigate negotiations are distributed among counties, and analyze the relationship between local capacity, access to resources, and involvement in negotiations. We find that local officials express simultaneously affective and material concerns with the impacts of wind development and see negotiations with the developer as central to realizing local benefits. However, the expertise and staffing needed to negotiate with developers is less accessible to poorer or sparsely populated counties, and counties with lower overall revenues have narrower scopes of negotiation, and counties incre. Our results suggest that uneven rural capacity heightens an already asymmetrical relationship between localities and developers. In analyzing how infrastructure developments are shaped by relationships between localities and developers that are conditioned by austerity and (under)capacity, this paper contributes to and bridges scholarly discussions on rural austerity, rescaling, and renewable energy transitions. These results challenge conventional wisdoms around centralizing energy siting processes, contextualize popular and academic debates about opposition to renewable energy development, and highlight the need for rural reinvestment to realize meaningfully participatory energy developments.

Elmallah, Salma↗
DOE OSTI2025

EnergyPlus-MCP: A model-context-protocol server for ai-driven building energy modeling

Traditional building energy modeling with the EnergyPlus building performance simulation engine requires domain expertise, programming skills, and intensive manual efforts limiting its effective adoption. This paper introduces EnergyPlus-MCP, the first open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server specifically designed for EnergyPlus simulation workflows, establishing a new foundational infrastructure for AI-driven building energy modeling. The MCP server implements a layered architecture with 35 specialized tools spanning model management, editing and analysis, HVAC and other systems configuration inspection, and simulation execution, enabling Large Language Models to interact with EnergyPlus through conversational interfaces. The server addresses critical workflow barriers by automating model validation, streamlining energy efficiency measures modification, and providing intelligent output management with interactive visualization. Through practical demonstrations using a multi-zone building retrofit analysis, we show how the EnergyPlus-MCP server significantly reduces manual efforts while maintaining full simulation rigor. By providing accessible natural language interfaces to sophisticated building energy analysis, this approach enables scalable deployment of simulation expertise across public and private organizations, educational institutions, and research teams, fundamentally transforming traditional building energy modeling practices.

AI↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Value of Forecasters‐in‐the‐Loop in Real‐Time Flood Forecasting in the Age of Machine Learning

Machine learning (ML) applications in hydrological forecasting are increasingly prevalent and show great potential. However, many previous studies have only evaluated performance through reanalysis or retrospective simulations compared to simplified baselines. This study provides the first assessment of ML performance against actual operational forecasting systems operated by the California Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC), which combines the Community Hydrologic Prediction System (CHPS) with forecasters-in-the-loop. Results demonstrate that forecasters-in-the-loop systems consistently outperform ML models in both general forecasts and flood alerting across lead times up to 96 hr, even when ML models use observed forcings, while CNRFC operational process relies on biased weather forecasts. Our analysis reveals that forecaster expertise maintains forecast reliability despite inaccurate precipitation inputs, with human-guided systems showing superior performance degradation characteristics at extended lead times. These findings highlight the irreplaceable value of human expertise in operational forecasting and caution against overstating current ML capabilities in real-world applications.

Tran, Vinh Ngoc [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI ↗
DOE OSTI2023

High-throughput ab initio reaction mechanism exploration in the cloud with automated multi-reference validation

Quantum chemical calculations on atomistic systems have evolved into a standard approach to studying molecular matter. These calculations often involve a significant amount of manual input and expertise, although most of this effort could be automated, which would alleviate the need for expertise in software and hardware accessibility. Here, we present the AutoRXN workflow, an automated workflow for exploratory high-throughput electronic structure calculations of molecular systems, in which (i) density functional theory methods are exploited to deliver minimum and transition-state structures and corresponding energies and properties, (ii) coupled cluster calculations are then launched for optimized structures to provide more accurate energy and property estimates, and (iii) multi-reference diagnostics are evaluated to back check the coupled cluster results and subject them to automated multi-configurational calculations for potential multi-configurational cases. All calculations are carried out in a cloud environment and support massive computational campaigns. Key features of all components of the AutoRXN workflow are autonomy, stability, and minimum operator interference. We highlight the AutoRXN workflow with the example of an autonomous reaction mechanism exploration of the mode of action of a homogeneous catalyst for the asymmetric reduction of ketones.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advancing microelectronics through nanoscale science: A perspective on needs and opportunities from the nanoscale science research centers

Microelectronics are the cornerstone of the modern world, enhancing our daily lives by providing services such as communications and datacenters. These resources are accessible thanks to the continual pursuit of a deeper understanding of the chemical and physical phenomena underlying the materials synthesis approaches and fabrication processes used to create microelectronic components and subsequently the components' responses to electrical, optical, and other stimuli that are utilized within microelectronic systems. Today, further development of microelectronics requires multidisciplinary expertise across scientific disciplines and fields of study—synthesis, materials characterization, nanoscale fabrication, and performance characterization—with focus placed on comprehending the nanoscale forms and features of microelectronic components. The Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs) are Department of Energy, Office of Science user facilities that support the international scientific community in advancing nanoscale science and technology. As a key component of the U.S. Government's National Nanotechnology Initiative, the NSRCs enable transformative discoveries by providing world-class facilities, expertise, and collaborative opportunities. Here, in this perspective, we showcase a non-exhaustive cross-section of the capabilities housed at and developed by the NSRCs and their user communities to address fundamental synthesis, metrology, fabrication, and performance considerations toward advancing the development of new microelectronics. Finally, we provide a timely outlook on the next major areas of necessary development in nanoscale sciences to continue the innovation of microelectronics into the next generation.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cognitive Aging as a Human Factor: Effects of Age on Human Performance

Nuclear power plant (NPP) control room operators must make ongoing computations and decisions that maximize production and ensure safety, which places a high cognitive burden on the operators. How cognitions such as attention, visuospatial ability, and working memory interact with socio-technical systems to achieve optimal operations is well studied. However, there is an absence of research that examines how cognitive functioning within the NPP control room environment is moderated by developmental aging processes. This is of critical importance because different types of cognitive actions are known to develop and peak at different times across the adult life span, and it is becoming increasingly clear that there is no age at which all cognitive faculties operate at maximum capacity. Thus, given that NPPs are experiencing an aging workforce, it is vital to identify how mission critical cognitions change with age. This paper reviews implications of aging on reactor operators in the current and new fleet. We highlight lessons that can be learned from state-of-the-art human factors research that considers aging, lessons from the large cognitive aging literature, and lessons from aging workers in other industries that use sophisticated socio-technical systems, such as aviation. We also consider the important subject of aging effects versus expertise and present preliminary data that support the premise that age of operator is linked to effective and efficient operations but that this relationship may be moderated by level of operations expertise. In conclusion, we apply these lessons to future considerations for aging research in current nuclear operations and with the advent of advanced modernized control rooms.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗