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At least 415 records · Page 23

GeoRePORT Case Study Examples: Reporting Using the Geothermal Resource Portfolio Optimization and Reporting Technique (GeoRePORT): Preprint

The Geothermal Research Portfolio Optimization & Reporting Technique (GeoRePORT) was developed with funding from the United States Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) to assist in identifying and pursuing long-term investment strategies through the development of a resource reporting protocol. GeoRePORT provides scientists and non-scientists a comprehensive and quantitative means of reporting: (1) features intrinsic to geothermal sites (project grade) and, (2) maturity of the development (project readiness). Because geothermal feasibility is not determined by any single factor (e.g. temperature, permeability, permitting), a site's project grade and readiness are evaluated on twelve independent attributes pertaining to geological, technical, or socio-economic feasibility. In this paper, we present case studies illustrating how GeoRePORT can be used to compare geological, technical, and socio-economic attributes between geothermal systems. The consistent and objective assessment protocols used in GeoRePORT allow for comparison of project attributes across unique locations and geological settings. GeoRePORT case studies outline the geological, socio-economic and technical features of four individual geothermal sites: Coso, Chena, Dixie Valley, and White Sands Missile Range. The case studies presented herein illustrate the usefulness of GeoRePORT in evaluating project risk/return, identifying gaps in reported data, evaluating R&D impact, and gathering insights on successes/failures as applicable to future projects.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

GeoRePORT Case Study Examples: Reporting Using the Geothermal Resource Portfolio Optimization and Reporting Technique (GeoRePORT)

The Geothermal Research Portfolio Optimization & Reporting Technique (GeoRePORT) was developed with funding from the United States Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) to assist in identifying and pursuing long-term investment strategies through the development of a resource reporting protocol. GeoRePORT provides scientists and non-scientists a comprehensive and quantitative means of reporting: (1) features intrinsic to geothermal sites (project grade) and, (2) maturity of the development (project readiness). Because geothermal feasibility is not determined by any single factor (e.g. temperature, permeability, permitting), a site's project grade and readiness are evaluated on twelve independent attributes pertaining to geological, technical, or socio-economic feasibility. In this paper, we present case studies illustrating how GeoRePORT can be used to compare geological, technical, and socio-economic attributes between geothermal systems. The consistent and objective assessment protocols used in GeoRePORT allow for comparison of project attributes across unique locations and geological settings. GeoRePORT case studies outline the geological, socio-economic and technical features of four individual geothermal sites: Coso, Chena, Dixie Valley, and White Sands Missile Range. The case studies presented herein illustrate the usefulness of GeoRePORT in evaluating project risk/return, identifying gaps in reported data, evaluating R&D impact, and gathering insights on successes/failures as applicable to future projects.

40 EE - Geothermal Technologies Office (EE-4G)↗

Neutron Leakage Spectra Sensitivities for ICSBEP Benchmarks

Neutron leakage spectra have been measured, simulated, and investigated by many groups. These spectra have many uses, including determining shielding requirements and calculating dose for radiation protection purposes, validating nuclear data, and determining material composition. It has even been proposed to use measurements of neutron leakage spectra to determine the soil composition of Mars. As part of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in nuclear Data (EUCLID) Laboratory Directed Research Development (LDRD) project, the authors are working on developing methods to calculate sensitivities to neutron leakage spectra. This may allow nuclear data evaluators to better use neutron leakage spectra data to constrain or adjust nuclear data. This may also be particularly useful as many neutron leakage spectra measurements do not require fissile material and can be performed with well characterized neutron sources. Neutron leakage spectra measurements are usually performed by placing a detector at the outside of a nuclear system. This may be a reactor, a neutron generator, or a neutron source. Certain detection systems can use pulse height data to infer neutron energies, other detector systems rely on other ways of determining neutron energy (for example, a Bonner sphere with multiple moderator thicknesses can be used to measure neutron spectrum). These measurements typically rely on some unfolding of the measured results. For pulsed systems like the "Livermore Pulsed Spheres," time-of-flight information can also help to constrain the neutron energy spectra data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Validating automated resonance evaluation with synthetic data

The integrity and precision of nuclear data are crucial for a broad spectrum of applications, from national security and nuclear reactor design to medical diagnostics, where the associated uncertainties can significantly impact outcomes. A substantial portion of uncertainty in nuclear data originates from the subjective biases in the evaluation process, a crucial phase in the nuclear data production pipeline. Recent advancements indicate that automation of certain routines can mitigate these biases, thereby standardizing the evaluation process and enhancing reproducibility. This research aims to provide a methodology, framework, and metrics for the validation of automated nuclear data evaluation software leveraging high-quality synthetic data that closely mimic real experimental observables. An introduced error metric provides a scale and intuitive measure of the evaluation quality by quantifying the estimate’s accuracy and performance across the specified energy range. Synthetic data provides access to experimental observables and underlying resonance parameters, enabling comparison of different evaluations. The methodology is demonstrated using Ta-181 isotope data in the resolved resonance region. The Automated Resonance Identification Subroutine (ARIS), which operates without prior resonance information, was used to test and showcase the framework’s capabilities utilizing the proposed error metrics. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and framework for optimizing software parameters and testing hypotheses through “what-if” controlled experiments, such as modifying assumptions about experimental conditions or average resonance parameters.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

A Primer on Nuclear "Recoil" Data

For many years the ENDF-6 format has existed to contain evaluated nuclear data. One primary driver for the format and the data is neutron transport calculations. Evaluated data can be processed by a code like NJOY into either continuous energy form (ACE format) for Monte Carlo codes like MCNP or into multi-group form (NDI tables) for deterministic codes like Partisn. The reaction cross sections are found in the MF 3 section of the ENDF-6 format. If the reaction produces one or more neutrons as outputs, then secondary neutron data must also be given in MF 4,5 or 6 sections of the format. Energy and angular distributions for the output neutrons must be given in one of several available formats. The most general formats are found in MF 6. MF 4 is for angular distributions, MF 5 is for Energy distributions, and MF 6 contains both. In recent years, more interest has developed in the other output particles (i.e., the “recoil” particles) from neutron induced reactions. This has been driven by interest in charged particle transport and in more specialized partial kermas. ( A separate total neutron kerma has been available for a long time.) Partial kermas are a breakdown of the Kinetic Energy Released into the MAterial by output particle or by neutron reaction. The sum of the partial kermas should be equal to the total kerma on a group-wise basis. The ENDF-6 format is general enough for these new data requirements. Ideally, evaluated data would exist for every output particle (including the secondary neutrons) from every neutron-induced reaction. In the MF 6 format section, data for multi-particle outputs may be entered using the LAW =1 option. This option explicitly allows energy and angular output distributions for each particle produced in the reaction. Such information should preserve the balance between partial kermas and the total kerma at the groupwise level as well as the individual particle averaged energies. For simpler 2-body reactions, LAW = 2 is available. This allows the evaluation to specify only enough data to specify the 2-body reaction fully. Such a simplification does not exist for 3 (or more) body breakups. A simplified form of LAW 2, i.e., LAW 3, also exists to generate approximate recoil output distributions in the absence of full data. However, evaluated data does not generally exist at this fine granularity for reactions involving more than 2 output particles ( e.g., the 3-body break-up reaction). When the multi-body detailed output distribution data is not available, LAW=6 may be employed in NJOY. LAW 6 produces approximate output distributions for all the particles produced in the reaction. Just like in the 2-body case, the smaller particles will generally carry off more energy. At any particular energy, the balance between the sum of the partial kermas and the total kerma will not necessarily be preserved. However, the average energy of each output particle from a reaction is preserved.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

TDRSS tracking data and orbit determination evaluation

TDRS-1 was launched on April 4, 1983. This paper presents preliminary results of TDRSS tracking data evaluation through September 1983. TDRSS tracking data evaluation is a summary of valid tracking data that characterizes data quality. TDRS-1 orbit accuracy is evaluated by using orbit consistency measured by comparing overlaps of TDRS-1 ephemerides produced from consecutive data arcs. TDRS-1 and user orbit accuracies and consistencies are also estimated. Orbit accuracy is estimated by comparing user orbits based on tracking data obtained both through the TDRSS and from ground-based tracking.

Campion, R. E.↗

Status of the WPEC subgroup 46 - Efficient and effective use of integral experiments for nuclear data validation

The present paper summarizes the current status of the activities of the on-going WPEC subgroup 46 which was the last significant initiative of Massimo before he passed away. The goal of WPEC/SG46 is to define, test and document a methodology to provide unambiguous feedback to the nuclear data evaluator community, based on the joint use of integral experiments and data assimilation techniques. Part of this effort resulted in a renewed analysis of the original Target Accuracy Requirement (TAR) exercise of WPEC/SG26, by adding more diverse nuclear systems and parameters, including reaction channels correlations and a coarser energy group structure; and making use of the progress made in the most recent evaluations in terms of both nuclear data and covariance matrices. The preliminary outcomes of the updated TAR exercise, documented by various groups worldwide are clear already: uncertainty reductions are required for many nuclide-reaction pairs in a variety of energy range if the target uncertainty requirements set by the industry are to be met, especially for k{sub eff}. The inclusion of correlations between the various reaction channels had a major impact on the magnitude of the required uncertainty reduction. Those uncertainty reductions are unlikely to be met by differential measurements alone. However, the selection of relevant integral experiment and a subsequent adjustment procedure may help meet these requirements. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Bayesian Monte-Carlo Evaluation Framework for Imperfect Data [Slides]

BMC evaluation is a tool to address imperfect data & models, non-linear models, and non-normal PDFs. New posterior PDFs may need new storage formats to allow storage of non-normal PDFs. Storing posterior sets allows for: variance, covariance, skewness, etc.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Creation of the VADER Code in SCALE [Slides]

This presentation details the creation of Validation Analysis Data Evaluation Resource (VADER) code in SCALE. This lecture highlights the USLSTATS program written in JAVA and its history. Additionally, it covers the integration of VADER with SCALE along with features and background information.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Poster - 18: New features in EGSnrc for photon cross sections

Purpose: To implement two new features in the EGSnrc Monte Carlo system. The first is an option to account for photonuclear attenuation, which can contribute a few percent to the total cross section at the higher end of the energy range of interest to medical physics. The second is an option to use exact NIST XCOM photon cross sections. Methods: For the first feature, the photonuclear total cross sections are generated from the IAEA evaluated data. In the current, first-order implementation, after a photonuclear event, there is no energy deposition or secondary particle generation. The implementation is validated against deterministic calculations and experimental measurements of transmission signals. For the second feature, before this work, if the user explicitly requested XCOM photon cross sections, EGSnrc still used its own internal incoherent scattering cross sections. These differ by up to 2% from XCOM data between 30 keV and 40 MeV. After this work, exact XCOM incoherent scattering cross sections are an available option. Minor interpolation artifacts in pair and triplet XCOM cross sections are also addressed. The default for photon cross section in EGSnrc is XCOM except for the new incoherent scattering cross sections, which have to be explicitly requested. The photonuclear, incoherent, pair and triplet data from this work are available for elements and compounds for photon energies from 1 keV to 100 GeV. Results: Both features are implemented and validated in EGSnrc.Conclusions: The two features are part of the standard EGSnrc distribution as of version 4.2.3.2.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

B(E2) Evaluation for 0{sub 1}{sup +}→2{sub 1}{sup +} Transitions in Even-Even Nuclei

A collaborative study by Brookhaven-McMaster-Central Michigan is underway to evaluate B(E2)↑ for 0{sub 1}{sup +}→2{sub 1}{sup +} transitions. This work is a continuation of a previous USNDP evaluation and has been motivated by a large number of recent measurements and nuclear theory developments. It includes an extended compilation, data evaluation procedures and shell model calculations. The subset of B(E2)↑ recommended values for nuclei of relevance to the double-beta decay problem is presented, and evaluation policies of experimental data and systematics are discussed. Future plans for completion of the B(E2;0{sub 1}{sup +}→2{sub 1}{sup +}) evaluation project are also described.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Final Scientific EFNUDAT Workshop

The Final Scientific EFNUDAT Workshop - organized by the CERN/EN-STI group on behalf of n_TOF Collaboration - will be held at CERN, Geneva (Switzerland) from 30 August to 2 September 2010 inclusive. EFNUDAT website: http://www.efnudat.eu. Topics of interest include: Data evaluation, Cross section measurements, Experimental techniques, Uncertainties and covariances, Fission properties, and Current and future facilities. International Advisory Committee: C. Barreau (CENBG, France), T. Belgya (IKI KFKI, Hungary), E. Gonzalez (CIEMAT, Spain), F. Gunsing (CEA, France), F.-J. Hambsch (IRMM, Belgium), A. Junghans (FZD, Germany), R. Nolte (PTB, Germany)S. Pomp (TSL UU, Sweden) Workshop Organizing Committee: Enrico Chiaveri (Chairman), Marco Calviani, Samuel Andriamonje, Eric Berthoumieux, Carlos Guerrero, Roberto Losito, Vasilis Vlachoudis. Workshop Assistant: Geraldine Jean

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A New Look to Nuclear Data

Databases of evaluated nuclear data form a cornerstone on which we build academic nuclear structure physics, reaction physics, astrophysics, and many applied nuclear technologies. In basic research, nuclear data are essential for selecting, designing and conducting experiments, and for the development and testing of theoretical models to understand the fundamental properties of atomic nuclei. Likewise, the applied fields of nuclear power, homeland security, stockpile stewardship and nuclear medicine, all have deep roots requiring evaluated nuclear data. Each of these fields requires rapid and easy access to up-to-date, comprehensive and reliable databases. The DOE-funded US Nuclear Data Program is a specific and coordinated effort tasked to compile, evaluate and disseminate nuclear structure and reaction data such that it can be used by the world-wide nuclear physics community.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

The critical evaluation of stellar data

The paper discusses the importance of evaluating a catalog of stellar data, whether it is an old catalog being made available in machine-readable form, or a new catalog written expressly in machine-readable form, and discusses some principles to be followed in the evaluation of such data. A procedure to be followed when checking out an astronomical catalog on magnetic tape is described. A cross index system which relates the different identification numbers of a star or other astronomical object as they appear in different catalogs in machine-readable form is described.

Underhill, A. B.↗

Creation of the VADER Code in SCALE [Abstract]

The VADER (Validation Analysis Data Evaluation Resource) is a new module in SCALE 6.3 that has been derived from the legacy USLSTATS program. VADER is a tool that allows the determination of bias and bias uncertainty for criticality safety computational methods. The older USLSTATS program, written in Java, existed outside of SCALE and provided tools to calculate only the confidence band with administrative margin (sometimes called USL-1) and the single-sided uniform width closed interval (USL-2). For normality testing it only offered a crude chi- squared normality test that had no user-configurable options and presented a simple pass/no-pass functionality.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Some findings on the applications of ERTS and Skylab imagery for metropolitan land use analysis

The author has identified the following significant results. Work undertaken on a three-sensor land use data evaluation for a portion of the Phoenix area is reported. Analyses between land use data generated from 1970 high altitude photography and that detectable from ERTS and Skylab, especially in terms of changes in land use indicate that ERTS and Skylab imagery can be used effectively to detect and identify areas of post-1970 land use change, especially those documenting urban expansion at the rural-urban fringe. Significant preliminary findings on the utility of ERTS and Skylab data for metropolitan land use analysis, substantiated by evaluation with 1970 and 1972 ground control land use data are reported.

Alexander, R. H.↗

Evaluation of space shuttle main engine fluid dynamic frequency response characteristics

In order to determine the POGO stability characteristics of the space shuttle main engine liquid oxygen (LOX) system, the fluid dynamic frequency response functions between elements in the SSME LOX system was evaluated, both analytically and experimentally. For the experimental data evaluation, a software package was written for the Hewlett-Packard 5451C Fourier analyzer. The POGO analysis software is documented and consists of five separate segments. Each segment is stored on the 5451C disc as an individual program and performs its own unique function. Two separate data reduction methods, a signal calibration, coherence or pulser signal based frequency response function blanking, and automatic plotting features are included in the program. The 5451C allows variable parameter transfer from program to program. This feature is used to advantage and requires only minimal user interface during the data reduction process. Experimental results are included and compared with the analytical predictions in order to adjust the general model and arrive at a realistic simulation of the POGO characteristics.

Gardner, T. G.↗

An Innovative Tool for Intraoperative Electron Beam Radiotherapy Simulation and Planning: Description and Initial Evaluation by Radiation Oncologists

Purpose: Intraoperative electron beam radiation therapy (IOERT) involves a modified strategy of conventional radiation therapy and surgery. The lack of specific planning tools limits the spread of this technique. The purpose of the present study is to describe a new simulation and planning tool and its initial evaluation by clinical users. Methods and Materials: The tool works on a preoperative computed tomography scan. A physician contours regions to be treated and protected and simulates applicator positioning, calculating isodoses and the corresponding dose-volume histograms depending on the selected electron energy. Three radiation oncologists evaluated data from 15 IOERT patients, including different tumor locations. Segmentation masks, applicator positions, and treatment parameters were compared. Results: High parameter agreement was found in the following cases: three breast and three rectal cancer, retroperitoneal sarcoma, and rectal and ovary monotopic recurrences. All radiation oncologists performed similar segmentations of tumors and high-risk areas. The average applicator position difference was 1.2 {+-} 0.95 cm. The remaining cancer sites showed higher deviations because of differences in the criteria for segmenting high-risk areas (one rectal, one pancreas) and different surgical access simulated (two rectal, one Ewing sarcoma). Conclusions: The results show that this new tool can be used to simulate IOERT cases involving different anatomic locations, and that preplanning has to be carried out with specialized surgical input.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗