Results for “program administration” — Page 26

DOE OSTI2025

Securing the Modern Grid: Federal Investments, Digitization, and Supply Chain Strategy

Across the United States (U.S.) grid expansion and modernization is underway, paving the way for accelerated load growth and intelligent resource management. Digitization of the grid is supported by several state and federal programs, providing support for utilities installing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), AI-powered analytics systems, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) to transform the grid from a one-way power delivery system into an intelligent, responsive network that will enable faster load growth and power expansion of data centers for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The digital transformation of America's grid presents opportunity for increased efficiency and resiliency but also introduces new digital risks that require careful management. Digital equipment often contains several vulnerabilities such as unencrypted communication protocols, and persistent remote access capabilities that could be exploited to manipulate device settings, coordinate service disruptions, or inject false data into grid operations. These digital risks become particularly important as the grid must rapidly scale to support AI-driven data centers, which the administration has identified as essential for maintaining U.S. technological leadership and economic competitiveness. These vulnerabilities are compounded by supply chain realities: Chinese manufacturers currently produce 70-90% of essential grid components including inverters, batteries, and control systems, with the U.S. lacking domestic manufacturing capacity for critical assets like extra-high voltage transformers. Recent federal legislation has established Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) restrictions to address these risks, requiring projects to achieve escalating thresholds of non-FEOC content to receive tax credits while utilities work to expand sourcing channels for their supply chains and strengthen security measures. These restrictions arrive precisely when utilities face unprecedented electricity demand growth driven by the rapid growth in data centers, creating a considerable challenge: rapidly expanding infrastructure while navigating complex compliance requirements while lacking viable alternatives for many critical components. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and its partners have developed practical approaches to help utilities navigate these intersecting challenges as they leverage federal investment to strengthen and grow the grid. These solutions include Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) principles that build resilience directly into systems, the Cirrus tool for secure cloud migration, and enhanced procurement guidance that embeds security requirements throughout equipment lifecycles. Federal initiatives, such as the Technical Assistance for Digital Assurance (TADA) project, provide direct support to utilities implementing these approaches while facilitating knowledge sharing across the industry. While these tools and frameworks cannot eliminate all risks inherent in foreign supply chain dependencies, they offer pragmatic pathways for strengthening security posture without sacrificing the deployment momentum essential to meeting surging electricity demand. Ultimately, securing America's digital energy infrastructure demands dedicated coordination across multiple fronts: building domestic supply chains, implementing robust digital assurance practices, and maintaining the aggressive modernization timeline necessary for reliability, resilience, and energy independence.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2021

Core Analysis E-Reports Produced for the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration for Wells 13-10A, 13-14, and 32-8 of the Farnsworth Unit, Texas

The submission is three electronic reports (e-reports) produced by Terra Tek, a former Schlumberger company, for and under the oversight of the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP). The SWP designed and implemented a coring and core analysis program in conjunction with the previous field operator Chaparral Energy, L.L.C. The main SWP contacts who oversaw the coring and core analysis program, including geologic core descriptions and sample selection for testing by the Terra Tek, are listed below in the Authors section. The three reports are for Wells 13-10A, 13-14, and 32-8 of the Farnsworth Unit, TX, a site of the SWP's CO2 storage and enhanced oil recovery project. The e-reports include many data types that are not listed in full detail here, but may include: geomechanical, geochemical, and petrophysical measurements; white light and UV core photos; spectral gamma logs on the core; and Heterogeneous Rock Analysis logs. Fracture core review reports are included for Wells 13-14 and 32-8. The three e-reports each have many subfolders with the various types of data in spreadsheets, pdfs, image files, or other formats. The main e-reports for each well are listed by the well name. The sub-folder “E-Report” for each well has a Report.html file, which, when opened, will have hyperlinks to the various data sets and information. The files in the zipped folder will need to be extracted for the Report.html files to work properly. These authors thank Joseph Hall, a geologist formerly of Chaparral Energy, L.L.C., for assistance in designing the coring program, his geologic expertise of the Farnsworth Unit, and his assistance with characterizing the core. Christopher Gillespie, of Terra Tek at the time, managed the myriad geomechanical, geochemical, and petrophysical measurements provided by Terra Tek for this project. The core from which the samples were collected for this project are housed at the Subsurface Data and Core Libraries of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Socorro, New Mexico, USA. Funding for this project is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) through the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP) under Award No. DE-FC26-05NT42591. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. These e-reports describe objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the reports do not necessarily represent the views of the US Department of Energy or the United States Government.

Caprock↗

DOE OSTI2020

Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) and Hydraulic Property Table for CONUS

The continental flood inundation mapping (CFIM) framework is a high-performance computing (HPC)-based computational framework for the Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND)-based inundation mapping methodology. Using the 10m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data produced by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3DEP (the 3-D Elevation Program) and the NHDPlus hydrography dataset produced by USGS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a hydrological terrain raster called HAND is computed for HUC6 units in the conterminous U.S. (CONUS). The value of each raster cell in HAND is an approximation of the relative elevation between the cell and its nearest water stream. Derived from HAND, a hydraulic property table is established to calculate river geometry properties for each of the 2.7 million river reaches covered by NHDPlus (5.5 million kilometers in total length). This table is a lookup table for water depth given an input stream flow value. Such lookup is available between water depth 0m and 25m at 1-foot interval. The flood inundation map is then computed by using HAND and this lookup table based on the near real-time water forecast from the National Water Model (NWM) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). HAND and the Hydraulic Property Table version 0.2. is created to correspond to data updates in the USGS 1/3 arcsec DEM, the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, including its Water Boundary Dataset, and the NHDPlus medium resolution dataset. This dataset comprises 331 HUC6 units for CONUS (excluding the five great lakes units), each is a downloadable zip file. Version 0.1 was computed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign in 2016 and is currently hosted at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). Please cite this data DOI and the following publications and data DOIs when you use HAND and the hydraulic property table: Liu, Yan Y., David R. Maidment, David G. Tarboton, Xing Zheng, and Shaowen Wang. 'A CyberGIS integration and computation framework for high-resolution continental-scale flood inundation mapping.' JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 54, no. 4 (2018): 770-784. DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.12660 Zheng, Xing, David G. Tarboton, David R. Maidment, Yan Y. Liu, and Paola Passalacqua. 'River channel geometry and rating curve estimation using height above the nearest drainage.' JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 54, no. 4 (2018): 785-806. DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.12661 Liu, Y. (2018). Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) for CONUS - v0.1, HydroShare, https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.69f7d237675c4c73938481904358c789 LICENSE FOR USE -- MAPS AND DATA DISCLAIMER This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MAPS AND DATA DISCLAIMER The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described or information contained on this map or associated series of maps. The data and related map graphics are not legal, land survey or engineering documents and are not intended to be used as such. ORNL gives no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, utility or completeness of this information. The user of these maps and data assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of the maps and data. ORNL disclaims all warranties, representations or endorsements either express or implied, with regard to the information contained in this map product, including, but not limited to, all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. This preliminary map product is for research and review purposes only. It is not intended to be used for emergency management operational or life safety decisions at the local or regional governmental level or by the general public. Users requiring information regarding hazardous conditions or meteorological conditions for specific geographic areas should consult directly with their city or county emergency management office.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) and Hydraulic Property Table for CONUS - Version 0.21 (20200601)

The continental flood inundation mapping (CFIM) framework is a high-performance computing (HPC)-based computational framework for the Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND)-based inundation mapping methodology. Using the 10m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data produced by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3DEP (the 3-D Elevation Program) and the NHDPlus hydrography dataset produced by USGS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a hydrological terrain raster called HAND is computed for HUC6 units in the conterminous U.S. (CONUS). The value of each raster cell in HAND is an approximation of the relative elevation between the cell and its nearest water stream. Derived from HAND, a hydraulic property table is established to calculate river geometry properties for each of the 2.7 million river reaches covered by NHDPlus (5.5 million kilometers in total length). This table is a lookup table for water depth given an input stream flow value. Such lookup is available between water depth 0m and 25m at 1-foot interval. The flood inundation map is then computed by using HAND and this lookup table based on the near real-time water forecast from the National Water Model (NWM) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). HAND and the Hydraulic Property Table version v0.21 is an upgrade to v0.2. Version 0.21 applies NHD HR etching to DEMs for all HUC6 units before running the HAND workflow. This new version also fixed the issue of void areas along HUC boundary. This dataset comprises 331 HUC6 units for CONUS (excluding the five great lakes units), each is a downloadable zip file. Version 0.1 was computed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign in 2016 and is currently hosted at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). Please cite this data DOI and the following publications and data DOIs when you use HAND and the hydraulic property table: Liu, Yan Y. Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) and Hydraulic Property Table for CONUS - Version 0.2. (20200301). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. (2020). DOI: 10.13139/ORNLNCCS/1608331 Liu, Yan Y., David R. Maidment, David G. Tarboton, Xing Zheng, and Shaowen Wang. 'A CyberGIS integration and computation framework for high-resolution continental-scale flood inundation mapping.' JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 54, no. 4 (2018): 770-784. DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.12660 Zheng, Xing, David G. Tarboton, David R. Maidment, Yan Y. Liu, and Paola Passalacqua. 'River channel geometry and rating curve estimation using height above the nearest drainage.' JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 54, no. 4 (2018): 785-806. DOI: 10.1111/1752-1688.12661 Liu, Y. (2018). Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) for CONUS, HydroShare, https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.69f7d237675c4c73938481904358c789 LICENSE FOR USE -- MAPS AND DATA DISCLAIMER This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MAPS AND DATA DISCLAIMER The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described or information contained on this map or associated series of maps. The data and related map graphics are not legal, land survey or engineering documents and are not intended to be used as such. ORNL gives no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, utility or completeness of this information. The user of these maps and data assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of the maps and data. ORNL disclaims all warranties, representations or endorsements either express or implied, with regard to the information contained in this map product, including, but not limited to, all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. This preliminary map product is for research and review purposes only. It is not intended to be used for emergency management operational or life safety decisions at the local or regional governmental level or by the general public. Users requiring information regarding hazardous conditions or meteorological conditions for specific geographic areas should consult directly with their city or county emergency management office.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Quantification of Energy Savings and Demand Reduction for a Heat Pump Integrated with Thermal Energy Storage (Final Report)

To mitigate the variation in demand on the electric grid, thermal energy storage (TES) is an alternative to electric batteries or installing new peaking power plants. Stakeholders and policy makers across the United States have expressed interests in promoting TES, as demonstrated by the US Department of Energy’s Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings program and the efforts of various state legislatures. However, the cost value provided by TES are unclear. If reliable cost benefits were determined, stakeholders would have a clearer picture of the financial returns that can be gained from their investment in TES. The study in this report is conducted by ORNL with collaboration with Emerson the Helix Innovation Center. In the first part of this report, EnergyPlus was used to perform whole-building simulations for two residential buildings in Indianapolis and Atlanta. The HVAC system in both buildings were equipped with phase change material TES. The TES tank was charged in off-peak hours and discharged in peak hours to perform load shifting. First, the economic value implied by existing time-of-use (TOU) rates offered by utility companies was analyzed via whole-building simulation. Second, existing demand reduction (DR) incentives sourced from 3 different electrical grid administrators (i.e., California, Texas, and New England region) were surveyed to determine their implied value. The study suggests that the traditional value analysis that focuses on ROI for the building owner significantly undervalues TES technology making economic viability difficult. A more comprehensive value analysis that includes peak demand management and deferred capital for peaking power plants shows that TES should be economically viable but here the value is greater for the utility and requires large market penetration and aggregation to fully realize the benefits. Therefore, to facilitate commercialization, new business models are needed that include a broader range of stakeholders and distribute the value of TES proportionally. In the 2 nd part of this project, the benefits of a novel phase change material (PCM) integrated heat pump configuration were evaluated via detailed component based simulation. A one-dimensional PCM heat exchanger model which discretizes the PCM tank and refrigerant tubes into small control volumes is developed. Each control volume can have different PCM temperatures, PCM properties, and heat transfer coefficients. The PCM tank is charged by a wrapped tank condenser and discharged by an internal refrigerant coil. The PCM heat exchanger model is integrated into DOE/ORNL Heat Pump Design Model for heat pump system simulation. To demonstrate the performance of the PCM integrated heat pump, a case study in Chicago was performed. A Time-of-Use utility structure-based control strategy is implemented to schedule the PCM tank charging and discharging mode switching. Compared with a conventional electric heat pump, the PCM integrated heat pump shows superior performance on load shifting and utility cost reduction. As a result, the proposed system demonstrates 24.6% utility saving for cooling application and 25.8% utility saving for heating application.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

Long-term Moisture Adsorption in Packaged Plutonium Oxide

In 2018, the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE-NNSA) began implementing dilute and dispose to remove 34 metric tons (MT) of surplus weapons grade plutonium from the US stockpile. Under this plan, surplus plutonium material is converted into plutonium oxide (PuO 2 ) before being stored in metal containers and sent to the DOE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The dilute and dispose project was implemented as a more cost-effective method for abiding by the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) between the USA and Russia, as compared to producing mixed oxide fuel (MOX). The PMDA was originally signed in 2000 and amended in 2010.2 The disassembly of pits and conversion to PuO 2 as part of dilute and dispose is carried out through the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The dilute portion of dilute and dispose is carried out at Savannah River Site (SRS). With this program in place, it is necessary to ensure the safe, long-term storage of the PuO 2 generated during this process until final disposal at WIPP is accomplished.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2023

Partnership for Radiation Studies (PaRS): A Consortium for Advancing Radiation Science among Underrepresented STEM Students

The Partnership for Radiation Studies (PaRS) consortium was recently awarded by U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The five-year grant aims to increase the number of underrepresented students in STEM disciplines, with simultaneous advancement of nuclear radiation science. The goal is to hire more underrepresented minorities at national laboratories. The consortium’s progress will be tracked/reported annually. This paper and subsequent presentation cover details of the consortium, highlighting the key activities of participating national laboratories in assisting the minority-serving institutions.

Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program,↗

DOE OSTI2023

Using National-Scale Data to Inform Coal Power Plant Redevelopment and Coal Community Revitalization Planning

In the United States, individual coal plants have high variation in their construction and operation. Coal plants commonly have multiple units, with different commissioning ages, operational position, and maintenance conditions – even multiple fuels. These units may be in changing states of utilization, with variation in productivity depending on economic contexts. Coal plants themselves may be temporarily offline, mothballed, retired, or decommissioned due to owner/operator portfolios or market conditions, and the current posture of the plant may be difficult to ascertain without local news sources (Tarekegne et al. 2021). Anticipated dates of plant closures are prospectively represented to regulators and to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), but may also experience uncertainty due to the engineering, environmental, economic and social complexity of closing a very large power plant. As noted in this report, closure of the first unit to the last within a single plant may span more than 20 years. Yet tracking and predicting the position of our nation’s coal fleets on a national scale is deeply important. In developing a case for federal datasets and an approach to building and curating these data, this report identified that data must have high fidelity at the plant-level to be meaningful in aggregate. Plant-scale detail is also a match for its application: national priorities in federal investment range from economic revitalization for coal plant communities to maintaining reliable electric grid operations. This document is organized into a statistical review of coal plant retirements, past and prospective, in the United States; trends in the relationship between closures and existing federal investment programs for community revitalization; and potential methods for accelerating site redevelopment through advanced geospatial analysis based on federal data.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2025

The Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility Capability eXpansion (DCX) Strategy

This document details the strategy proposed to meet the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) requirement for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) Facility Sustainment and Modernization projects identified in multiple NNSA Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP) reports to Congress [NNSA, 2020; 2021; 2022; 2023; 2024]. DARHT has become indispensable for the certification of the primaries of U.S. nuclear weapons since the current U.S. moratorium halted underground nuclear testing more than 30 years ago. However, aging facilities, evolving technology, and other issues are limiting or threatening the capability of DARHT to meet NNSA’s expanding mission needs now and into the future. This DARHT Capability eXpansion (DCX) strategy was developed to address NNSA needs by extending DARHT’s reliability and resilience, increasing the quality and quantity of DARHT data, and enabling hydrodynamic measurements in complex environments. The strategy can be implemented through integration of line-item projects, acquisition of major items of equipment, and other actions coordinated with the execution of the SSMP. This strategy document is intended for U.S. Government officials, particularly authorizers, appropriators, and program leaders. It may also be furnished to DARHT users, customers, collaborators, stakeholders, and visitors as needed

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

DOE OSTI2024

Activities at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to Advance Nuclear Radiation Science among Underrepresented STEM Students

The Partnership for Radiation Studies (PaRS) consortium is a collaboration between two minority-serving institutions and two U.S. national laboratories. The five-year consortium is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and it aims enhance workforce of underrepresented students in STEM disciplines. PaRS’ long-term goal is to train students for their prospective hiring in DOE laboratories and sites. As one of the two integral national laboratory partners, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is playing an integral role in achieving this goal via pertinent lectures, seminars, hands-on trainings, and outreach activities. This paper summarizes PNNL’s key activities and initiatives to train the next generation of underrepresented students in STEM disciplines.

Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program,↗

DOE OSTI2020

Semi-analytic model of magnetized liner inertial fusion

The code that was developed is called SAMM (Semi-Analytic MagLIF Model). In 2015, McBride and Slutz published all of the equations that are solved by the code in the original SAMM paper: R. D. McBride and S. A. Slutz, ?A semi-analytic model of magnetized liner inertial fusion?, Phys. Plasmas 22, 052708 (2015); http://doi.org/10.1063/1.4918953. The SAMM code is now implemented in both the MATLAB and Python programming languages. Students from multiple universities have requested copies of the code so that they can become more familiar with the MagLIF concept. We would like to seek an open-source solution. There is no market value to this code, as there are plenty of more sophisticated simulation codes already available; SAMM is merely a simplified model that is purely for educational purposes. In fact, at least one graduate student (from the University of California, San Diego) has already implemented and published his own modified version of the model: J. Narkis, H. U. Rahman, J. C. Valenzuela, F. Conti, R. D. McBride, D. Venosa, and F. N. Beg, ?A semi-analytic model of gas-puff liner-on-target magneto-inertial fusion?, Phys. Plasmas 26, 032708 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5086056. SAND2020-12244 M Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Moore, Thomas↗

DOE OSTI2021

Regulatory Considerations in the Development of Radiation-Drug Combinations

Radiation therapy remains a fundamental treatment for patients with cancer. Despite an increasing number of targeted molecular therapies that are US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease, there has been very little progress made in terms of drugs used concurrently with radiation. This article reviews the existing regulatory framework in which cancer drugs may be developed for use in combination with radiation therapy from the perspective of the FDA. To briefly summarize: (1) nonclinical studies are a critical first step to ensure that drugs are safe for use in humans; however, additional nonclinical studies of a drug with radiation may not be required before a clinical trial in combination with radiation as long as the safety profile of the drug has been characterized in humans. The FDA determines the quality of evidence required before studying a drug in combination with radiation on a case-by-case basis. (2) Although often impractical to consider late toxicities during dose-escalation, late adverse events should be captured and taken into consideration when determining the final dose and schedule to take forward during drug development. (3) There are a number of expedited programs for cancer drug development, including accelerated approval, a conditional approval that allows for use of earlier clinical endpoints when the data suggests a clinically meaningful improvement over available therapy. (4) The Agency encourages sponsors to discuss their development plan with the appropriate FDA review division in formal regulatory meetings.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Development of Large Bore Rabbit Capsules in Support of BWR Cladding Irradiations in HFIR

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is an ideal tool for materials irradiation testing because of its intense steady-state neutron flux. Many programs take advantage of HFIR’s central flux trap for irradiation experiments using capsules, also known as rabbits, to support advanced materials development and reactor design. The facility that makes up the HFIR flux trap has recently undergone a design change that increases the HFIR primary coolant volumetric flow rate by removing restrictions in the system. As a result, the usable cross-sectional area within the facility increased, opening the door to increase the cross-sectional area of the rabbit capsules that fill the facility. This report documents a new large-diameter rabbit housing that increases the usable volume within the rabbit capsule by 22.6%. However, challenges arise with increasing the capsule size, such as establishing a new maximum capsule operating pressure and determining the thermal-hydraulic characteristics. This report addresses those challenges with previously adopted HFIR safety methods. The rupture pressure of the rabbit housings is demonstrated while verifying that capsule swelling during and after rupture will not block coolant flow. Then, a safety factor is applied to ascertain an administrative operating pressure. Additionally, the thermal-hydraulic performance of the HFIR facility filled with large-diameter rabbit capsules is shown to not violate previously determined safety criteria. Next, heat transfer coefficients are determined for use in design calculations. Furthermore, this report gives an example of internal configurations for the new, larger rabbit capsules that use relevant boiling water reactor (BWR) cladding geometry. Finally, this report documents an example thermal design performance for a rabbit capsule containing six gauge-curved tensile tube specimens. The thermal performance gives predicted temperature distributions within the capsule and shows the expected temperature of the passive thermometers for post-irradiation temperature comparisons.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Development of Large Bore Rabbit Capsules in Support of BWR Cladding Irradiations in HFIR

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is an ideal tool for materials irradiation testing because of its intense steady-state neutron flux. Many programs take advantage of HFIR’s central flux trap for irradiation experiments using capsules, also known as rabbits, to support advanced materials development and reactor design. The facility that makes up the HFIR flux trap has recently undergone a design change that increases the HFIR primary coolant volumetric flow rate by removing restrictions in the system. As a result, the usable cross-sectional area within the facility increased, opening the door to increase the cross-sectional area of the rabbit capsules that fill the facility. This report documents a new large-diameter rabbit housing that increases the usable volume within the rabbit capsule by 22.6%. However, challenges arise with increasing the capsule size, such as establishing a new maximum capsule operating pressure and determining the thermal-hydraulic characteristics. This report addresses those challenges with previously adopted HFIR safety methods. The rupture pressure of the rabbit housings is demonstrated while verifying that capsule swelling during and after rupture will not block coolant flow. Then, a safety factor is applied to ascertain an administrative operating pressure. Additionally, the thermal-hydraulic performance of the HFIR facility filled with large-diameter rabbit capsules is shown to not violate previously determined safety criteria. Next, heat transfer coefficients are determined for use in design calculations. Furthermore, this report gives an example of internal configurations for the new, larger rabbit capsules that use relevant boiling water reactor (BWR) cladding geometry. Finally, this report documents an example thermal design performance for a rabbit capsule containing six gauge-curved tensile tube specimens. The thermal performance gives predicted temperature distributions within the capsule and shows the expected temperature of the passive thermometers for post-irradiation temperature comparisons.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI1991

Nuclear Safety [Vol. 32, No. 4, October-December 1991]

Nuclear Safety is a review journal that covers significant developments in the field of nuclear safety. Its scope includes the analysis and control of hazards associated with nuclear energy, operations involving fissionable materials, and the products of nuclear fission and their effects on the environment. Primary emphasis is on safety in reactor design, construction, and operation; however, the safety aspects of the entire fuel cycle, including fuel fabrication, spent-fuel processing, nuclear waste disposal, handling of radioisotopes, and environmental effects of these operations, are also treated. Table of Contents for this issue follows. GENERAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: 477 Report on the International Symposium on the Use of Probabilistic Safety Assessment for Operational Safety—PSA '91, S. Chakraborty and M. Khatib-Rahbar; 488 Good Relationships Are Pivotal in Nuclear Data Bases, A. S. Heger and B. V. Koen; 494 Technical Note: The Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel's Evaluation of the Ulysses Space Mission, J. A. Sholtis, Jr., D. A. Huff, L. B. Gray, N. P. Klug, and R. O. Winchester; ACCIDENT ANALYSIS: 502 The Severe Accident Analysis Program for the Savannah River Nuclear Production Reactors, M. L. Hyder; CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION: 511 A Framework for Selecting Suitable Control Technologies for Nuclear Power Plant Systems, R. A. Kisner; DESIGN FEATURES: 521 Containments for Gas-Cooled Power Reactors History and Status, P.W. Williams; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: 537 Indoor Radon: A Natural Risk, N. H. Harley and J.H. Harley; On the Importance of the Atmospheric Parameters in the Fission Products Distribution of a Severe Reactor Accident, M. C. Barla and A. R. Bayulken; Book Review: Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation BEIR V, C. R. Richmond; WASTE AND SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT: 555 Activities Related to Waste and Spent Fuel Management, M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver OPERATING EXPERIENCES: 567 Effects of Component Aging on the Westhinghouse Control Rod Drive System, K. Sullivan and W. Gunther; 577 Reactor Shutdown Experience, Compiled by J. W. Cletcher, 580 Selected Safety-Related Events, Compiled by G. A. Murphy; 582 Operating U 8 Power Reactors, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: 596 General Administrative Activities, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver; 610 Reports, Standards, and Safety Guides, D. S. Queener; 614 Proposed Rule Changes as of June 30, 1991; ANNOUNCEMENTS: 520 Workshop on PC PRAISE: A Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Personal Computer Code for Nuclear Power Plant Piping Reliability Assessment; 536 Fifth Workshop on Nuclear Power Plant Containment Integrity; 624 New OECD "International Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE)"; 625 Harvard School of Public Health Announces Short Courses; 625 Eighth Power Plant Dynamics, Control and Testing Symposium; 626 Second Training Course on Off-Site Emergency Planning and Response for Nuclear Accidents; 618 The Authors; 622 Reviewers of Nuclear Safety, Vol 32.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Refreshing Waste Tracking Software for the 2020's - 20059

The Waste Compliance and Tracking System (WCATS) is a software application designed to manage waste operations from cradle to grave. The system provides the support needed for characterization, generation, processing, and shipment of all waste generated or stored at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Waste is tracked with task records for containers in real-time via both desktop and mobile device applications. The software allows application administrators to configure sites with appropriate limits for Pu-239 equivalent Curies (PE-Ci), fissile gram equivalents (FGEs), volume limits, as well as custom limits for site-specific technical safety requirements (TSRs). WCATS was developed based on a need at Los Alamos National Laboratory for a modern, customizable waste tracking system that could support many different waste types. The application is built using Oracle{sup R} database and Oracle{sup R} ADF Swing application framework. The technologies and software frameworks selected for the system were finalized in 2006. Although Oracle{sup R} Database has proven to be robust, the user interface and application framework interface with the database have been deprecated and need to be replaced. The technologies selected for modernization follow the open-source model, which allows the WCATS team to more easily recruit developers, improve the speed of development, and ease the deployment and adoption of the system. The tools that support the re-engineering effort are Vue.js{sup R}, a JavaScript{sup R} framework, and Spring Boot{sup R}, an API (application programming interface) development tool written in Java{sup R}. An API allows for simplified communication from the database to the user interface of the application. In addition, legacy Crystal Reports{sup R} will be replaced with reports developed with the open source Pentaho{sup TM}f Report Designer community edition. Because the application uses HTML and JavaScript{sup R}, it builds upon tools that have been used for many years in web development. These tools have large community support and their proven track record will ensure that enhancements to WCATS can continue for years to come. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI1991

Nuclear Safety [Vol. 32, No. 4, October-December 1991]

Nuclear Safety is a review journal that covers significant developments in the field of nuclear safety. Its scope includes the analysis and control of hazards associated with nuclear energy, operations involving fissionable materials, and the products of nuclear fission and their effects on the environment. Primary emphasis is on safety in reactor design, construction, and operation; however, the safety aspects of the entire fuel cycle, including fuel fabrication, spent-fuel processing, nuclear waste disposal, handling of radioisotopes, and environmental effects of these operations, are also treated. Table of Contents for this issue follows. GENERAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: 477 Report on the International Symposium on the Use of Probabilistic Safety Assessment for Operational Safety—PSA '91, S. Chakraborty and M. Khatib-Rahbar; 488 Good Relationships Are Pivotal in Nuclear Data Bases, A. S. Heger and B. V. Koen; 494 Technical Note: The Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel's Evaluation of the Ulysses Space Mission, J. A. Sholtis, Jr., D. A. Huff, L. B. Gray, N. P. Klug, and R. O. Winchester; ACCIDENT ANALYSIS: 502 The Severe Accident Analysis Program for the Savannah River Nuclear Production Reactors, M. L. Hyder; CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION: 511 A Framework for Selecting Suitable Control Technologies for Nuclear Power Plant Systems, R. A. Kisner; DESIGN FEATURES: 521 Containments for Gas-Cooled Power Reactors History and Status, P.W. Williams; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: 537 Indoor Radon: A Natural Risk, N. H. Harley and J.H. Harley; On the Importance of the Atmospheric Parameters in the Fission Products Distribution of a Severe Reactor Accident, M. C. Barla and A. R. Bayulken; Book Review: Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation BEIR V, C. R. Richmond; WASTE AND SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT: 555 Activities Related to Waste and Spent Fuel Management, M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver OPERATING EXPERIENCES: 567 Effects of Component Aging on the Westhinghouse Control Rod Drive System, K. Sullivan and W. Gunther; 577 Reactor Shutdown Experience, Compiled by J. W. Cletcher, 580 Selected Safety-Related Events, Compiled by G. A. Murphy; 582 Operating U 8 Power Reactors, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: 596 General Administrative Activities, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver; 610 Reports, Standards, and Safety Guides, D. S. Queener; 614 Proposed Rule Changes as of June 30, 1991; ANNOUNCEMENTS: 520 Workshop on PC PRAISE: A Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Personal Computer Code for Nuclear Power Plant Piping Reliability Assessment; 536 Fifth Workshop on Nuclear Power Plant Containment Integrity; 624 New OECD "International Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE)"; 625 Harvard School of Public Health Announces Short Courses; 625 Eighth Power Plant Dynamics, Control and Testing Symposium; 626 Second Training Course on Off-Site Emergency Planning and Response for Nuclear Accidents; 618 The Authors; 622 Reviewers of Nuclear Safety, Vol 32.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Simplifying the Advanced Test Reactor LOWE Element Test Series

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is one of six remaining high performance research reactors in the United States scheduled to be converted from 93% high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to 19.75% low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel as part of the Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Material Management and Minimization (MMM) reactor conversion efforts(1). The specific LEU fuel element design for the ATR is called the Low Enriched (LOWE) element. A series of fuel qualification tests are scheduled to occur over the next decade before the ATR is fully converted. In addition to several experiments of demonstration plates, a series of Element Tests (ETs) are planned for conversion, in which full sized LOWE elements are placed in ATR driver positions. The purpose of these ETs was generally to sequentially increase the amount of LEU and core power to full power, therefore creating a representative safety profile in which LEU could operate for the duration of the ATR lifetime. The planned element tests were (2): ET-1: one LOWE element at low power for once cycle ET-2: ~8 LOWE elements at low/medium power for multiple cycles, and ET-3: >8 LOWE elements for a full lobe of elements at high power for multiple cycles. Given recent improvements in modeling fidelity, scheduling considerations, and an opportunity to combine later ETs, the LEU conversion program successfully defined the operational requirements for the “ET-ATR” test, which combines the needed information collected from ET-2 and ET-3 into a single test.

42 ENGINEERING↗