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DOE OSTI2025

BESS Digital Assurance, Supply Chain Risk Management, and Emerging Regulation Session One - Abridged

The TADA BESS Supply Chain Workshops are designed to equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to address the evolving challenges at the intersection of battery energy storage systems (BESS), cybersecurity, and supply chain vulnerabilities. The workshops emphasize the application of Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) principles using INL’s procurement guide and the CIE-BAT tool. Attendees will develop risk-based security strategies and actionable compliance roadmaps tailored to their BESS projects. Additionally, the program fosters a collaborative network of practitioners and provides guidance on navigating emerging regulatory requirements, including FEOC rules under the OBBB framework, to assess and enhance organizational readiness. This is Session 1 of 3.

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2025

BESS Digital Assurance, Supply Chain Risk Management, and Emerging Regulation Session Two

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2025

BESS Digital Assurance, Supply Chain Risk Management, and Emerging Regulation Session One

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Outcomes of PAX sapiens-Supported Global Wildlife Data Sharing Conferences for Enhanced One Health Security (GWDSC)

Across two consecutive Global Wildlife Data Sharing Conferences supported by PAX sapiens—Year 1 (May 2024) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Year 2 (2025) in Ciudad Real, Spain—the initiative converted wildlife data sharing from aspiration into operational reality, producing measurable impacts in platform development, data mobilization, standards harmonization, and international partnership formation. The conferences addressed a critical gap in global health security: while 75% of emerging infectious diseases affect both humans and animals and over 60% originate in wildlife, wildlife health surveillance has historically lagged behind human and agricultural sectors due to fragmented databases, inconsistent terminology, uneven capacity, and limited cross-border coordination. By convening practitioners, government agencies, international organizations, academic institutions, and NGOs, the GWDSC catalyzed trust-based relationships and practical workflows that enable earlier detection, better risk assessment, and more effective prevention of threats at the wildlife–domestic animal–human–environment interface.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Summary Report for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites at the Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada

U.S. Department of Energy Standard DOE-STD-5002-2017, “Disposal Authorization Statement and Tank Closure Documentation,” requires preparation of an Annual Summary Report comparing low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities operations with the Disposal Authorization Statement (DAS) and its supporting technical documents including the performance assessment (PA) and the composite analysis (CA). The fiscal year (FY) 2020 Annual Summary Report for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites (RWMSs) was prepared by reviewing planned and discovered changes, waste receipts, monitoring results, research and development (R&D) results, and the status of DAS conditions and issues to assess the validity of the DASs, PAs, and CAs.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2020

Sensitive Resources Assessment and Forest Analysis for the Proposed Versatile Test Reactor, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a leading institution in advanced materials, supercomputing, neutrons, and nuclear science. As a research laboratory managed by UT-Battelle, LLC for DOE, ORNL has national priorities in energy, security, and scientific discovery that necessitate facility improvements and expansions. DOE is also committed to environmental stewardship. The laboratory is located on the ~32,000-acre (~13,000-ha) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), much of which is categorized as a National Environmental Research Park (NERP) and a state Wildlife Management Area. DOE works with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), US Department of Agriculture, and other agencies to serve as an effective steward of the ORR. Accordingly, project managers must conform to environmental regulations, agreements, and policies at the federal, state, and institutional levels. Per 40 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 1508.14, potential effects on research and science education also represent potential effects of federal actions on the NERP, and impacts on, e.g., deer harvest, must be considered on the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area when other aspects of the human environment are affected. The United States currently has no fast neutron testing capability to support advanced nuclear research and development. The proposed Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) will take advantage of current investments by the US government and private industry in nuclear reactors to expedite the design and construction process, using proven technology to create a world-class scientific infrastructure. The VTR will take advantage of fast neutrons provided by this proven technology, along with a capability to rapidly insert, conduct, and remove state-of-the-art experiments. An advantage of the VTR is that it can support future innovations in experimental capabilities without modifying the facility. The VTR will support progress in a variety of science and technology areas, including testing and qualification of advanced reactor fuels; testing and qualification of innovative structural materials; testing of innovative components and instruments; validation of advanced modeling and simulation tools; and versatility for future technical missions. Through proven technology, the VTR can take advantage of existing reactor designs and operating experience to reduce the risk, cost, and time for design and construction. The top available resources of DOE laboratories, industry, and universities will be used to expedite reactor design and construction toward developing the scientific infrastructure that affords a strong testing capability that can be sustained over many years. This report summarizes current knowledge of natural and cultural resources primarily within the VTR construction area. At the time of this report, the proposed VTR site design includes a construction area of ~150.4 acres (~69.9 ha), which contains an ~51.3-acre (~20.8-ha) operations area, located within forested natural areas of the ORR. The primary goal of the work presented here was to evaluate potential effects on sensitive resources that might result from development and construction activities associated with VTR. In addition to on-the-ground surveys during spring and summer 2020 by the ORNL Natural Resources Management Program and Aquatic Ecology Group staff, this report makes use of historical (pre-1995) and contemporary (1995 to present) data from additional confirmed sources (e.g., TDEC). Likewise, forest conditions were compiled from a 2011 forest inventory and supplemented with limited ground observations in 2020. The individuals who obtained and compiled the data presented here are familiar with and routinely assess sensitive resources on the ORR. Anyone who references this report must consider that the timing of surveys did not permit a complete delineation of the resources that will be affected. If the VTR project proceeds, additional surveys will be required to account for the seasonal patterns of various threatened and endangered species. Data deficiencies and potential resources that likely went undetected are indicated where possible. Accordingly, this report should facilitate more environmentally sound decisions during planning and 2 development of the VTR site, provide a foundation for further assessment of sensitive and cultural resources, and help project managers better address regulatory guidance and DOE policies on sustainable development in compliance with, for example, the US Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), Tennessee Rare Plant Protection and Conservation Act of 1985, Tennessee Nongame and Endangered or Threatened Wildlife Species Conservation Act of 1974, several federal and state regulations regarding aquatic resource protection, and site-specific policies as outlined in various ORR management plans developed by ORNL and TWRA for DOE.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Evaluating the regional risks to food availability and access from land-based climate policies in an Integrated Assessment Model

Mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is necessary to reduce the overall negative climate change impacts on crop yields and agricultural production. However, certain mitigation measures may generate unintended consequences to food availability and food access due to both land use competition and economic burden of mitigation. Integrated assessment models (IAM) are generally used to evaluate these policies; however, currently these models may not capture the importance of income and food prices for hunger and overall economic wellbeing. Here, we implement a measure of food security that captures the nutritional and economic aspects as the total expenditures on staple foods divided by income and weighted by total caloric consumption in an IAM, the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM4.0). We then project consumer prices and our measure of food security along the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Sustained economic growth underpins increases in caloric consumption and lowering expenditures on staple foods. Strict conservation policies affect food accessibility in a larger number of developing countries, whereas the negative effects of pricing terrestrial emissions is more concentrated on the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa, by substantially replacing their cropland with forests and affecting the production of key staples.

Cui, Ryna↗

DOE OSTI2022

Semi-empirical simulation of in-motion radiation detection systems

The Replicative Assessment of Spectroscopic Equipment (RASE) is an open-source software that uses experimental data as the basis to simulate the response of commercial radiation detectors to sources in various situations, particularly in the context of nuclear security and safeguards applications. Dynamic RASE introduces the capability to simulate scenarios where sources and detector are in relative motion. Position-dependent experimentally acquired gamma spectra are ingested by Dynamic RASE to build maps that describe the detector response over all space. These response maps are used to replicate the time-dependent energy spectra collected as sources move on a path near the detector. Here, a Gaussian process is used to build each map, incorporating a novel kernel adapted to the special case of radiation detection. The approach has been validated against experimental data acquired using a NaI-based detector for 137 Cs and 54 Mn sources. The capability to create accurate simulations using either long-dwell static measurements or dynamic pass-by measurements as source data has been demonstrated. Quantitative relative performance, benefits, and shortcomings are discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2020

Greenhouse gas consequences of the China dual credit policy

For over ten years, China has been the largest vehicle market in the world. In order to address energy security and air quality concerns, China issued the Dual Credit policy to improve vehicle efficiency and accelerate New Energy Vehicle adoption. In this paper, a market-penetration model is combined with a vehicle fleet model to assess implications on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy demand. Here we use this integrated modeling framework to study several scenarios, including hypothetical policy tweaks, oil price, battery cost and charging infrastructure for the Chinese passenger vehicle fleet. The model shows that the total GHGs of the Chinese passenger vehicle fleet are expected to peak in 2032 under the Dual Credit policy. A significant reduction in GHG emissions is possible if more efficient internal combustion engines continue to be part of the technology mix in the short term with more New Energy Vehicle penetration in the long term.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Conceptual Fuel Element Design Candidates for Conversion of High Flux Isotope Reactor with Low-Enriched Uranium Silicide Dispersion Fuel

Engineering design studies are underway to assess the feasibility of converting the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) to operate with low-enriched uranium (LEU) silicide dispersion (U3Si2-Al) fuel. These studies are supported by the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Material Management and Minimization. A systematic approach employing neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analyses have been performed with the ORNL Shift and HFIR Steady State Heat Transfer Code tools, respectively, to predict reactor performance and thermal safety margins for proposed LEU3Si2-Al fuel designs. The design process was initiated by generating an optimized design with fabrication features identified from previous studies that result in excellent performance and safety metrics. The approach continued by substituting a single fabrication feature anticipated to be difficult to manufacture with another feature expected to perform an analogous function to that of the removed feature. Four conceptual fuel element design candidates, with various fabrication features, for conversion of HFIR with 4.8 gU/cm3 LEU3Si2-Al fuel have been generated and shown to meet pre-defined performance and safety metrics. Results to date indicate that HFIR could convert with the subject fuel system and meet performance and safety requirements if, among other considerations, fabrication of the specific design features are demonstrated and qualification of the fuel is complete under HFIR-specific conditions.

Chandler, David↗

DOE OSTI2021

Turbo FRMAC 2021 v.11.0.0

The Turbo FRMAC analysis tool performs complex calculations to quickly evaluate radiological hazards during an emergency response by assessing impacts to the public, workers, and the food supply. Turbo FRMAC can be used to evaluate the hazard from a wide variety of radiological incidents. Turbo FRMAC calculations are based on methods established by the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment (FRMAC). 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. SAND2021-10713 O

Whitener, Dustin↗

DOE OSTI2023

Electrical Fault Detection, Power Quality, Distributed Energy Resource Use Cases, and Cyber Event Applications with the Cyber Grid Guard System Using Distributed Ledger Technology

Electrical utilities continue to deploy more intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) inside and outside electrical substation and are associated with distributed energy resources (DERs). The integrity and confidentiality of data from IEDs is crucial, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) could improve the resilience of microgrids by helping to make these data more secure. The most popular applications using blockchain technology for electrical utilities is in the field is based on energy trading. However, the dynamism of the penetration of customer owned DERs and the deployment of sensors with IEDs have led to the identification of new applications using DLT that are focused on other areas, such as monitoring, operation and management of the grid and its assets. In addition, the majority of studies on electrical grid applications with blockchain were validated with software simulations. Although general monitoring of power systems for using DLT could be evaluated in operational electric grids, other DLT research applications such as defense against cyber-attacks and/or electrical fault detection are not likely to be performed in a real infrastructure because of possible risks to the network/equipment security. This report summarizes the application of power system applications using distributed ledger technology (DLT), providing a secure DLT framework for collecting data from IEDs like power meters and protective relays inside and outside of an electrical substation and/or between two different electrical utilities. In this study, the use case scenarios were created and assessed for different power system application by using DLT. The electrical fault detection for faulted phases (1), power quality monitoring of phase voltage magnitudes, frequency levels and load power factor (2), DERs use case monitoring (3), and cyber-event applications (4) were performed in a test bed with a Cyber-Grid Guard (CGG) system using DLT. It had a real-time simulator with power meters and protective relays in-the-loop. The first section of this report presents a literature review of power system applications using blockchain at research level. The second section shows the theory and equations used on this report. The third section shows the description of the test bed, equipment, architecture, and electrical grid diagrams. The fourth section shows the experimental models and use case scenarios that were performed for the electrical fault detection, power quality, DERs use case, and cyber event applications with the CGG system using DLT. The fifth section shows the results collected from the tests based on comparing the time stamped events of the analog signals from the IEDs, DLT computer and real time simulator. The sixth section performed the discussion of the results for the use case scenarios. Finally, section seven presents the conclusions for this report were presented.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2023

Cyber100 Compass User Guide

This document provides an overview of the Cyber100 Compass tool and serves as a guide to users interested in understanding the cybersecurity risks facing their clean energy transition. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed the Cyber100 Compass tool for cyber risk assessment at the system-of-systems level for system planners trying to reach high levels of renewables. Two offices of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) - the Office of Electricity and the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response-funded NREL to develop this framework that will enable grid system planners to understand and mitigate cybersecurity risk for grids transitioning to high levels of renewable generation, including 100%. Cyber100 Compass can help systems planners apply the principle of security-by-design at scale. Investing in an upfront understanding of system-of-systems (where the constituent systems are operating entities of the different renewable resources) risks from high-renewable grids will result in a more resilient grid at a lower long-term cost.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2022

Geologic Carbon Storage of Anthropogenic CO2 under the Colorado Plateau in Emery County, Utah

Geologic Carbon Storage (GCS) is a promising technology for storing large volumes of anthropogenic CO2 effectively and permanently. Numerical simulations are an integral part of site selection and characterization for any potential GCS site. As part of the DOE-funded CarbonSAFE Rocky Mountains Phase I project, a regional GCS analysis was undertaken to understand the efficacy of storing CO2 emissions from the power generation and heavy industry in central Utah’s favorable geology. In this study, the injection of CO2 for geologic storage was simulated in the Navajo Sandstone Formation in Emery County, Utah. Carbon dioxide was sourced from regional power generation stations and heavy industries throughout Utah, with an emphasis on emissions reduction at the Hunter Power Plant near Castle Dale, Utah. A simulation grid was extracted from the project’s geological model encompassing an area around Price, Huntington, and Castle Dale in central Utah. The Navajo Sandstone Member of the Glen Canyon Group was the target of CO2 injection with the overlying Carmel formation providing the primary seal. A suite of simulations was performed assessing the viability of this area for permanent CO2 storage. Results indicate that the area can not only store 46 million metric tons of anthropogenic CO2, meeting the project goals, but this area has the capacity to securely store at least 1.3 billion tons of CO2, suggesting the injection site and surrounding geology are suitable locations for commercial-scale GCS.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Summary Report for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites at the Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada February 2023

Annual report submitted to DOE/HQ

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2024

Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Summary Report for the Area 3 and Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Sites at the Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada

Annual report required by DOE Order 435.1

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2024

Development of New Reactor Core Configuration for Power Uprate - Fuel Reload & Heat Processing Analyses, Core Design, System Safety Assessments, and Fuel Performance Analyses

With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, the United States stands at a critical juncture for the future of nuclear power. These landmark policies provide significant support for clean energy initiatives, positioning nuclear power as a key component of the nation’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions and achieve energy security. This growing emphasis on nuclear energy is driven by the need for reliable, low-carbon power sources as the country transitions away from fossil fuels. Federal policy, along with increasing state-level support, is encouraging investment in nuclear technology advancements to meet these demands. Building new nuclear power plants (NPPs), however, presents significant challenges due to high costs and long construction timelines. As a result, increasing the power output of existing NPPs through power uprates has emerged as a more feasible and cost-effective strategy. One key area of advancement is the development of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF), such as chromium-coated zirconium alloy cladding, which offers enhanced material performance, enabling power uprates in light water reactors (LWRs). Given the growing demand for nuclear energy fueled by federal policies and state initiatives, it is essential to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of significant power uprates in existing pressurized water reactors (PWRs) using advanced fuel technologies. The introduction of ATF concepts opens new opportunities for safely and economically achieving these power increases. Assessing whether these innovations can support substantial power uprates while maintaining operational safety is crucial to maximizing the potential of the nation’s existing nuclear infrastructure. This project aims to explore how power uprates can be achieved by boosting reactor thermal power output and optimizing reactor core design, while ensuring the safety and economic viability of NPPs. Specifically, it will focus on demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of power uprates in a PWR using low 5-10% enrichment uranium (LEU+) high burnup (HBU) fuel combined with ATF concepts. In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), the research and development focus on building foundational models and conducting multi-physics performance and safety analyses to support the power uprate. The findings of the study would be shared through LWRS Seasonal Meetings, conferences and workshops with utility companies and researchers. These also serve as a basis for further study of fuel reloading optimization with ATF claddings.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Development of a Cloud-based Application to Enable a Scalable Risk-informed Predictive Maintenance Strategy at Nuclear Power Plants

Light-water reactor operations and maintenance (O&M) costs are prohibitively high, thus contributing to the premature decommissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs). This is partly due to how the equipment is monitored. In recent years, cloud computing has emerged as a dominant technology by virtue of its low costs, computing and storage adaptability, and ability to host applications over numerous types of virtual infrastructures. Cloud computing can be a cost-effective alternative to onsite storage and diagnostics. This paper conducts a techno-economic assessment of a provisional cloud deployment architecture for a NPP predictive monitoring (PdM) system. The cloud-based monitoring system would enable maintenance and diagnostics (M&D) analysts and other authorized plant users to remotely monitor equipment functionality so as to enable PdM practices and early detection of faults. The Microsoft Azure cloud platform is included in the proposed cloud architecture to provide data processing and storage, sensor device networking, and database management; however, this analysis could be extended to other cloud computing service providers as well. For the techno-economic assessment, technical feasibility is measured in terms of network performance metrics such as response time, latency, and throughput, whereas economic feasibility is measured in terms of operational costs and capital expenditures. Finally, this report covers certain regulatory and security aspects that may concern licensees looking to implement cloud computing. The report focuses on the integration of sensor database storage, the application of cloud resources to PdM, and the identification of technological and economic hurdles associated with moving to a cloud-computing-based architecture.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗