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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Reassessing methods to close the nuclear fuel cycle

This paper presents the major takeaways from studies conducted over several years that were focused on transitioning the U.S. nuclear infrastructure from the current once-through fuel cycle to one in which fuel is continuously recycled in fast reactors. Furthermore, these studies involved simulating and analyzing numerous example scenarios of fuel cycle transition with various assumptions on technology, policy, and material utilization strategies. Among the many findings, perhaps the most important is that under certain conditions, the use of high-assay low-enriched uranium to start up a fleet of fast reactors may be more favorable compared to using recycled Pu from thermal reactors since it is less constrained by other technologies and may even be more economical.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Licensing, Regulations and Developing Guidance for Nuclear Technology Deployment for Embarking countries in Africa

The African region is witnessing an increased number of countries at different stages of implementing or considering the introduction of peaceful nuclear power programs to meet the demand of their rapidly growing economies as well as clean energy needs. Grid size, cost, licensing, and regulations will be some of the challenges to deploying larger power reactors. A key element of the regulatory framework will be the inclusion of nuclear security information and assurance that security is integrated into the license review process.As each country continue to implement and consider different reactor designs from several vendors, the significance of customer knowledge of licensing, Regulations, and guidance document to facilitate the deployment and operational needs for nuclear technology cannot be over-emphasized. This special session will bring together a selected panel of key stakeholders and policymakers from embarking countries in Africa to participate in a panel discussion to share their experience in the licensing, regulations, and development of guidance for power plant deployment. The session will also consider and identify potential gaps that may affect the licensing and regulatory applications for the future nuclear infrastructure. As well, the panel will promote regional networking and communication to increase capacities in readiness for the potential deployment of additional technology, such as Small Modular Reactors.

Dahunsi, Stephen↗
DOE OSTI2024

Synergies Between Nuclear Security and Critical Infrastructure: National Legal and Regulatory Frameworks

Nuclear reactors and other nuclear facilities are part of a nation's critical infrastructure assets. Key cross-sector interdependencies, in relation to energy, transportation systems, communications, emergency services, water, information technologies and others, result in inevitable synergies between legal frameworks for the security of nuclear facilities and legal frameworks for the protection of critical infrastructure. The protection of nuclear facilities against sabotage and other malicious acts is paramount in ensuring energy security and thus ensuring uninterrupted energy supply. The protection of other sectors, such as uninterrupted communications, secure water supply, and others, supports a safe and secure operation of nuclear facilities. Some countries rely on broader critical infrastructure frameworks to impose security requirements on nuclear facilities, or to achieve robust cybersecurity systems. This paper will analyze the interdependencies and synergies between the legal and regulatory frameworks for critical infrastructure protection and nuclear facilities' security by comparing various national frameworks. The paper will also propose modalities to leverage the best practices and requirements from each framework towards energy security goals and stronger national nuclear security regimes.

Man, Madalina-Anca↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gender Mainstreaming in Nuclear Security: Strategies for Incorporating Gender Equality by Design in the IAEA Milestones Approach

Gender mainstreaming has emerged as a critical mechanism towards achieving gender equality in the development and implementation of laws, policies, and programs, including those related to national security. Gender mainstreaming is generally defined as the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies, and programs, in all areas and at all levels, with the ultimate goal to achieve gender equality. Gender mainstreaming, which in essence can be thought of as “gender equality by design,” is an important element for building a robust nuclear security infrastructure. To date, however, gender mainstreaming has not been fully operationalized in the nuclear sector. For instance, the IAEA Milestones Approach, which provides important guidance to states seeking to develop nuclear power programs, has not yet incorporated or addressed gender considerations in its various phases or nuclear infrastructure issues, including those related to nuclear security. Therefore, this paper will argue that specifically for nuclear newcomer states, gender mainstreaming could serve as a powerful tool to integrate gender considerations into the design of laws, policies, programs, and entities necessary to successfully implement a nuclear power program. The objective of this study is twofold: first, to explore the concept of gender mainstreaming and its relevance to nuclear security, and second, to identify how gender can be incorporated into the IAEA Milestones Approach. The paper will emphasize the importance of developing guidance for the IAEA and nuclear newcomer states on how gender considerations could be incorporated throughout the development of a nuclear security program.

Siserman-Gray, Ioana-Cristina↗
DOE OSTI2021

EPC-ES WIPP WAC Appendix A Equivalence Support Measurements 2019-2020

Characterization of low-level waste (LLW) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is primarily performed by the Environmental Protection and Compliance - Environmental Stewardship (EPC-ES) Characterization Services team and/or the Nuclear Process Infrastructure (NPI--9) Nuclear Material Support Services team (hereafter referred to as the gamma spectroscopy teams). The gamma spectroscopy teams use portable high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector systems for the nondestructive assay (NDA) characterization of LLW. Controlled-approved procedures and processes for the use of such systems to assay LLW items are currently in place. Additionally, a number of performance studies have been conducted by the gamma spectroscopy teams to support the efficacy and quality of assay results generated by the established NDA process.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Women in Nuclear Power Programs: Case Studies from Africa

This paper first analyzes existing international, regional, and national efforts on gender equality in nuclear security and illustrates how these efforts can be integrated into a country’s preparations for a nuclear power program. The paper will hone into case studies from Eastern Africa, analyzing current programs and plans in two nuclear newcomer countries in the region: Kenya and Uganda. Finally, the ultimate purpose of the paper will be to present recommendations, suggestions, and potential solutions to address gender equality in nuclear security throughout the three milestones and to build equality in human resource development to achieve a robust nuclear security infrastructure for a nuclear power program.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2024

Value of Nuclear Energy to the Reliability of the North American Power System: Results for Western and Eastern Interconnections

This report documents the fulfillment of a milestone for the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program: completing a baseline study of regional impact of nuclear power plants and hydrogen production in maintaining grid services and power quality. Models have been comprehensively demonstrated for the Western Interconnection, or Western Electric Coordinating Council area, and in the Eastern Interconnection for scenarios representative of past extreme events (e.g., drought and heat waves). Understanding the impact on the reliability of the bulk electric system of any reduction in generation capacity from nuclear power, for any reason, is the motivation of this work. Factors that might lead to the premature or unplanned closure of nuclear plants, extended outages, or repurposing of nuclear power include: • Aging infrastructure: Many nuclear power plants in the U.S. are nearing the end of their designed operating lives. Upgrading aging infrastructure can be expensive, and some utilities may choose to retire plants rather than invest in costly upgrades. • Low wholesale electricity prices: The deregulation of the electricity market in many states has led to increased competition and driven down wholesale electricity prices, causing nuclear power operators to seek other revenue sources for their heat and power such as clean hydrogen production. • Renewables growth: The rapid growth of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power is posing a challenge to traditional generation sources like nuclear. While many see renewables as a key part of the clean energy transition, their intermittent nature requires additional grid solutions for reliable power supply. • The potential for regulatory decisions to be in conflict: In its 2021 rulemaking, EPA rule (86 FR 880), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a compliance date for the ban on processing and distribution in commerce of Decabromodiphenyl Ether (DecaBDE). Since DecaBDE is in many components, particularly wiring, of nuclear power plants which are deemed safety-related or important to safety, three plants would not have been able to restart after their 2023 spring outages, and numerous others would have faced issues in the near future. Fortunately, in this case, the EPA provided relief to the nuclear energy industry. The report provides a summary of the significant role nuclear energy plays in the United States’ power generation mix, supplying around 20% of the nation’s electricity generation, spread across 28 U.S. states. Nuclear power is reliable, mostly unaffected by weather and seasonal changes, and provides a consistent source of baseload power. In terms of capacity, nuclear power plants account for as much as 26% of balancing area power generation capacity. Nuclear power also provides a substantial contribution (e.g., 10% of the inertia in the Eastern Interconnection) of the synchronous spinning mass/inertia that buffers the rate at which frequency changes when a load and generation imbalance occurs (e.g., a large plant trips or a load is suddenly shed due to a transmission outage). This contribution is critical for maintaining grid stability during sudden changes in load or generation.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Systems Theory Principles and Complex Systems Engineering Concepts for Protection and Resilience in Critical Infrastructure: Lessons from the Nuclear Sector

Part of the Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21) (PPD 2013) mandate includes evaluating safety, security, and safeguards (or nonproliferation) mechanisms traditionally implemented within the nuclear reactors, materials, and waste sector of critical infrastructure—including a complex, dynamic set of risks and threats within an all-hazards approach. In response, research out of Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) explores the ability of systems theory principles (hierarchy and emergence) and complex systems engineering concepts (multidomain interdependence) to better understand and address these risks and threats. Herein, this Sandia research explores the safety, safeguards, and security risks of three different nuclear sector-related activities—spent nuclear fuel transportation, small modular reactors, and portable nuclear power reactors—to investigate the complex and dynamic risk related to the PPD-21-mandated all-hazards approach. This research showed that a systems-theoretic approach can better identify inter-dependencies, conflicts, gaps, and leverage points across traditional safety, security, and safeguards hazard mitigation strategies in the nuclear reactors, materials, and waste sector. Resulting from this, mitigation strategies from applying systems theoretic principles and complex systems engineering concepts can be (1) designed to better capture interdependencies, (2) implemented to better align with real-world operational uncertainties, and (3) evaluated as a systems-level whole to better identify, characterize, and manage PPD-21's all hazards strategies.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-Performance Computational Modeling of Strong Ground Motion for Seismic Response Analysis with Implications for High-Hazard and/or Nuclear Facilities and Critical Infrastructure at the NNSSNLV-015-19, Year 2

Presentation to be given at the FY 2020 SDRD Annual Meeting, to be held Sept. 23-24, on WebEx. There is one video also attached. This presentation is a reduced slide deck of the recently STIPped version, DOE/NV/03624--0875, presented 9-15-20 at the work in progress seminar. High-Performance Computational Modeling of Strong Ground Motion for Seismic Response Analysis with Implications for High-Hazard and/or Nuclear Facilities and Critical Infrastructure at the NNSSNLV-015-19, Year 2

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advanced High-Performance Computational Modeling of the Seismic Response of High-Hazard and/or Nuclear Facilities and Critical Infrastructure at the NNSS

New methods for predicting the amplitude and variability of ground shaking from earthquakes (and explosions) are needed for seismic hazard analysis for buildings, nuclear power plants, and critical infrastructure at the NNSS. We are comparing existing 1-D and new 3-D geophysical methods for estimating the shear-wave velocity structure in the upper 30 meters of the ground surface (Vs30), which plays a major role in ground motion amplification and seismic response of buildings. We evaluate the performance of these methodologies at the U1a Complex at the NNSS and develop simple 1-D and high-resolution 3-D Vs30 models. We then emplace these high-resolution models into a background seismic velocity model. We will collaborate with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to conduct numerical modeling of the ground shaking at the NNSS using their high-performance computing technology and state-of-the-art ground motion simulation methodology. The primary work that was completed in FY 2019 was to acquire the seismic systems and familiarize staff at the NNSS with their use. We also worked on developing a collection plan with the Device Assembly Facility (DAF) at the NNSS, but due to time constraints and other ongoing projects at the DAF, we had to use U1a as a backup. We were able to coordinate the seismic survey, and we will complete the collection of seismic data in FY 2020. Additionally, during FY 2019, we completed the geologic framework model (GFM) for the U1a Complex and modeled the Yucca fault. LLNL worked with us through FY 2019 to prepare the data files for their modeling software and tested the software for reliability. In FY 2020 we will develop the end-to-end capability so that any facility could easily be modeled and the expected shaking from a local earthquake understood. The work in FY 2020 will include building fault models from the GFM and finalizing the velocity model analysis. The final simulations will be run for multiple rupture models, and final assessments will demonstrate the seismic hazard at the U1a Complex.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Trends in relativistic laser–matter interaction: the promises of structured light

Time and space envelope, frequency and wavelength distributions, polarization, and phase are quantities that define the properties of laser light. Controlling them opens up strategies for manipulating the properties of atoms in various media. At relativistic intensity, matter is rapidly transformed into a plasma state, which is modifying the laser’s propagation, its absorption enabling the generation of intense magnetic and electric fields. In this context, structured light presents exciting, promising, and challenging opportunities for research. This review article aims to explain the concepts of structured light, their applications to real experiments at relativistic intensities, practical considerations, and some scientific perspectives.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of Newly Measured 𝛽-Delayed Neutron Emitters around 78 Ni on Light Element Nucleosynthesis in the Neutrino Wind Following a Neutron Star Merger

Neutron emission probabilities and half-lives of 37 𝛽-delayed neutron emitters from 75 Ni to 92 Br were measured at the RIKEN Nishina Center in Japan, including 11 one-neutron and 13 two-neutron emission probabilities and six half-lives for the first time that supersede theoretical estimates. These nuclei lie in the path of the weak 𝑟 process occurring in neutrino-driven winds from the accretion disk formed after the merger of two neutron stars synthesizing elements in the 𝐴∼80 abundance peak. The presence of such elements dominates the accompanying kilonova emission over the first few days and have been identified in the AT2017gfo event, associated to the gravitational wave detection GW170817. Abundance calculations based on over 17,000 simulated trajectories describing the evolution of matter properties in the merger outflows show that the new data lead to an increase of 50%–70% in the abundance of Y, Zr, Nb, and Mo. This enhancement is large compared to the scatter of relative abundances observed in old very metal poor stars and thus is significant in the comparison with other possible astrophysical processes contributing to the light-element production. These results underline the importance of including experimental decay data for very neutron-rich 𝛽 -delayed neutron emitters into 𝑟 -process models.

59 ≤ A ≤ 89↗
DOE OSTI2021

Electropotential Verification for Nuclear Safeguards

The international safeguards regime desires methods to efficiently verify that facilities are only performing declared activities. Electropotential verification (EPV) is a newly proposed technique that was tested for its feasibility to perform facility design information verification (DIV). EPV works by passing a constant, low voltage current through a conductive system (facility infrastructure of nuclear fuel assembly) and measuring the resulting voltage at various places throughout the infrastructure in order to establish a baseline. Changes made to the system affect these voltage readings, which will deviate from the baseline and indicate that a change to the system was made. For large scale infrastructure such as a nuclear facility DIV, it appears feasible that changes in configuration of the system’s grounding can be detected in real-time, and the location of the change can be inferred from the measured intensity of the change in voltage.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2023

PRO-X Parallelization Study

The proliferation resistance optimization (PRO-X) program is actively supporting the design of nuclear systems by developing a framework to both optimize the fuel cycle infrastructure for nuclear reactor (including both advanced reactors (ARs) and research reactors (RRs)) and minimize the potential for production of weapons-usable nuclear material (Figure 1). One area of interest is in the impact a modular approach to bulk handling fuel cycle facilities could have on meeting safeguards requirements to identify future areas of growth within the proliferation resistance space. This study evaluates how changing the number of streams within a fuel cycle facility could impact a facilities ability to meet both domestic and international safeguards requirements.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Electropotential Verification for Nuclear Safeguards

The international safeguards regime desires methods to efficiently verify that facilities are only performing declared activities. Electropotential verification (EPV) is a newly proposed technique that was tested for its feasibility to perform facility design information verification (DIV) and verification of spent nuclear fuel while in a cooling pool. EPV works by passing a constant, low voltage current through a conductive system (facility infrastructure of nuclear fuel assembly) and measuring the resulting voltage at various places throughout the infrastructure in order to establish a baseline. Changes made to the system affect these voltage readings, which will deviate from the baseline and indicate that a change to the system was made. For facility DIV, it appears feasible that changes in configuration of the system’s grounding can be detected in real-time, and the location of the change can be inferred from the measured intensity of the change in voltage. Determination of whether or not spent fuel was present in a fuel rod, as well as the presence/absence of a fuel rod from an assembly using EPV, proved unsuccessful with the sensitivity of instrumentation used in this study.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Simultaneous hard x-ray Talbot phase and dark-field imaging in laser experiments at XFEL facilities

X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) facilities offer unprecedented opportunities to advance instrumentation for studying matter under extreme conditions. In this study, we harnessed the enhanced x-ray capabilities of XFELs to demonstrate dark field imaging in laser-driven experiments at XFEL facilities. Utilizing a Talbot x-ray interferometer, we simultaneously captured transmission, dark-field, and differential phase contrast radiographs of laser-driven metallic foils. Our work showcases the feasibility of single-shot grating-based Talbot x-ray dark-field imaging in pump-probe experiments at XFEL facilities, opening doors to a wide range of hard x-ray imaging applications in material science and high-energy density physics.

Bouffetier, V. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendo↗
DOE OSTI2024

02-16 Digital Engineering

48% of large projects finish on budget 8.5% of large projects finish on budget and on schedule 0.5% finish on budget and schedule, while delivering the expected benefits/promises Nuclear related infrastructure is one of the worst offenders

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗