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DOE OSTI2020

Near-Field Corrosion Interactions between Glass and Corrosion Resistant Alloys

This study explores the corrosion interactions between model nuclear waste glass materials and corrosion resistant alloys, under conditions that simulate the near field of a nuclear waste repository. The interactions between the corrosion of stainless steel (SS) 316, alloy G30, or alloy 625, and international simple glass or soda-lime silica glass are systematically studied. The dissimilar materials were exposed in close proximity to each other in different electrolytes at 90 oC. After exposure, the glass surface exposed near metals showed different regimes of corrosion, with distinct surface morphologies and chemistries that were likely affected by the local environment created by the localized corrosion of metals. Surface and solution analyses showed that the corrosion rate of glass was enhanced by the presence of metals. Infrared spectroscopy data suggested the local build-up of stresses in the contact area of glass, which may lead to the mechanical instability of the glass alteration layer. On the other hand, the effect of glass on metal corrosion is strongly dependent on the leaching solution. In electrolytes containing abundant aggressive anions such as Cl-, glass seems to suppress the localized corrosion of SS by the precipitation of a Si-rich surface film that protects the SS substrate from solutions. However, in less aggressive electrolytes, the corrosion rate of SS was increased by the presence of glass corrosion products. Overall, our study showed that the hidden and localized damage on glass in contact with metals may enhance the release of incorporated radionuclides compared to typical uniform glass corrosion. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the corrosion interactions between metals and glass under repository conditions.

Guo, Xiaolei↗

DOE OSTI2020

Panel Session 3: Prospects for Shared Solutions for Solving the WM Challenges for Small and Emerging Nuclear Countries

This panel focused on sharing WM solutions for small and emerging nuclear countries. As countries with substantial inventories of spent nuclear fuel pursue their national repository programs with varying degrees of progress, countries with only a few reactors and those at the beginning stages of their nuclear programs face a far different and substantial challenge toward developing a national solution. This session brought together a panel of experts from government and industry to explore shared solutions and next steps building off the recent progress made by international organizations and the recent efforts and lessons learned. Panelists with presentations: The Rationale for a Multinational Repository (Sean Tyson); Perspectives on the Future of the Multi-National Repository Concept (Alan Brownstein); Why Would any Country Accept Foreign Spent Nuclear Fuel? (Charles McCombie); Dual Track Strategy for Small Countries (Leon Kegel)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2024

Value of abstraction in performance assessment – When is a higher level of detail necessary?

In this study, different approaches in performance assessment (PA) of the long-term safety of a repository for radioactive waste were examined. This investigation was carried out as part of the DECOVALEX-2023 project, an international collaborative effort for research and model comparison. One specific task of the DECOVALEX-2023 project was the Salt Performance Assessment Modelling task (Salt PA), which aimed at comparing various models and methods employed in the performance assessment of deep geological repositories in salt. In the context of the Salt PA task, three distinct teams from SNL (United States), Quintessa Ltd (United Kingdom), and GRS (Germany) examined the consequences of employing different levels of abstractions when modelling the repository's geometry and implementing various features and processes, using the example of a simple hypothetical repository structure in domal salt. Each team applied their own tools: PFLOTRAN (SNL), QPAC (Quintessa) and LOPOS (GRS). These differ essentially regarding numerical concept and degree of detail in the representation of the underlying physical processes. The discussion focused on when simplifications can be appropriately applied and what consequences result from them. Furthermore, it was explored when and if a higher level of fidelity in geometry or physical processes is required.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

NASA NTRS2013

Workflow-Based Software Development Environment

The Software Developer's Assistant (SDA) helps software teams more efficiently and accurately conduct or execute software processes associated with NASA mission-critical software. SDA is a process enactment platform that guides software teams through project-specific standards, processes, and procedures. Software projects are decomposed into all of their required process steps or tasks, and each task is assigned to project personnel. SDA orchestrates the performance of work required to complete all process tasks in the correct sequence. The software then notifies team members when they may begin work on their assigned tasks and provides the tools, instructions, reference materials, and supportive artifacts that allow users to compliantly perform the work. A combination of technology components captures and enacts any software process use to support the software lifecycle. It creates an adaptive workflow environment that can be modified as needed. SDA achieves software process automation through a Business Process Management (BPM) approach to managing the software lifecycle for mission-critical projects. It contains five main parts: TieFlow (workflow engine), Business Rules (rules to alter process flow), Common Repository (storage for project artifacts, versions, history, schedules, etc.), SOA (interface to allow internal, GFE, or COTS tools integration), and the Web Portal Interface (collaborative web environment

Izygon, Michel E.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Validation of MCNP Critical Benchmark Models of PU-MET-FAST-016

A new centralized repository of high-quality MCNP models of critical benchmark experiments is currently under development at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The repository is the combined effort of the Nuclear Criticality Safety, Nuclear Data, and Monte Carlo code development/application organizations at LANL. The initial set of benchmark models in the repository are derived from the Whisper Suite provided with MCNP6.2 and are evaluated against the benchmark experiments described in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook. The goal is to build a single LANL benchmark collection that is up to date with the latest ICSBEP revision, has a formal review and revision process, is contained in an open-source repository, and utilizes new Python tools for improved input and output file review. This paper describes the validation of the models associated with PU-MET-FAST-016, “Flooded 3X3X3 Arrays of 3-kg Plutonium (Pu) Metal Cylinders – Phase I”. In this critical experiment, twenty-seven 3-kg Pu metal cylinders with a height of 46.33 ± 0.15 mm and diameter of 65.25 ± 0.05 mm were arranged in a cubic array. The Pu cylinders were sealed in aluminum cans, and three cans were placed in each of nine perforated aluminum sleeves, as shown in Fig. 1. The nine sleeves were supported by an aluminum frame that allowed for control of the lateral spacing of the cylinders, both in the X and Y directions. The benchmark experiment measured thirteen configurations. Of these configurations, six were modeled using MCNP.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2016

Earthdata Search: Scaling, Assessing and Improving Relevancy

NASA's Earthdata Search (https:search.earthdata.nasa.gov) application allows users to search, discover, visualize, and access NASA and international interagency data about the Earth. As a client to NASA's Common Metadata Repository (CMR), its catalog of data collections grew 700 in late 2015. This massive expansion brought improved search and discovery to the forefront of the client's usability needs. During this talk, we will give a brief overview of the application, the challenges that arose during this period of growth, the metrics-driven way we addressed them, and the latest outcomes.

CMR↗

NASA NTRS2018

GeneLab: "Omics" Data Systems for Spaceflight and Simulated Spaceflight Environment

NASA's GeneLab Data System is a repository that hosts multi-omics datasets generated by biological experiments flown onboard the International Space Station. Strategies regarding how GeneLab envisions the involvement of the scientific community and the public at large will be discussed, and current and future capabilities of the system will be described. Information describing how scientists can participate in analyzing the current datasets on plants, microbes, invertebrates or mammals will be provided, and initial findings from the current datasets will be discussed during this presentation. Anyone interested in genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics and proteomics, and systems biology, or who is curious to understand how space modifies living organisms should attend.

Omics↗

NASA NTRS2017

Benefits of International Collaboration on the International Space Station

The International Space Station is a valuable platform for research in space, but the benefits are limited if research is only conducted by individual countries. Through the efforts of the ISS Program Science Forum, international science working groups, and interagency cooperation, international collaboration on the ISS has expanded as ISS utilization has matured. Members of science teams benefit from working with counterparts in other countries. Scientists and institutions bring years of experience and specialized expertise to collaborative investigations, leading to new perspectives and approaches to scientific challenges. Combining new ideas and historical results brings synergy and improved peer-reviewed scientific methods and results. World-class research facilities can be expensive and logistically complicated, jeopardizing their full utilization. Experiments that would be prohibitively expensive for a single country can be achieved through contributions of resources from two or more countries, such as crew time, up- and downmass, and experiment hardware. Cooperation also avoids duplication of experiments and hardware among agencies. Biomedical experiments can be completed earlier if astronauts or cosmonauts from multiple agencies participate. Countries responding to natural disasters benefit from ISS imagery assets, even if the country has no space agency of its own. Students around the world participate in ISS educational opportunities, and work with students in other countries, through open curriculum packages and through international competitions. Even experiments conducted by a single country can benefit scientists around the world, through specimen sharing programs and publicly accessible "open data" repositories. For ISS data, these repositories include GeneLab and the Physical Science Informatics System. Scientists can conduct new research using ISS data without having to launch and execute their own experiments. Multilateral collections of research results publications, maintained by the ISS international partnership and accessible via nasa.gov, make ISS results available worldwide, and encourage new users, ideas and research. The paper explores international collaboration history, its evolution and maturation, change of focus during its different phases, and growth of its effectiveness (in accordance with the especially established criteria) in the light of benefits for the entire ISS community. With the International Space Station extended through at least 2024, more crew time becoming available and new facilities arriving on board the ISS, these benefits of international scientific collaboration on the ISS can only increase.

Hasbrook, Pete↗

DOE OSTI2026

M3SF-25LL010302052 - Radionuclide Interaction with Hydrothermally Altered Repository Materials

This progress report (Level 3 Milestone Number M3SF-25LL010302052) summarizes research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) within the Crystalline Host Rock Properties & Processes - LLNL Number SF-25LL01030205. Observed changes in radionuclide sorption after bentonite/clay heating have implications for radionuclide diffusive transport through engineered barriers and must be considered when designing waste disposal repositories. Recent research performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has provided key insights regarding the hydrothermal alteration behavior of bentonite backfill in the presence of repository materials (steel, concrete, etc.). We are examining how this mineral alteration affects retardation behavior of a suite of radionuclides of interest to repository performance assessment. Sorption experiments and data analysis for 233 U were initiated in FY24 following earlier experiments performed on 243 Am, 90 Sr, 137 Cs. In FY25, we completed the 233 U study and initiated and completed a study of 237 Np sorption. Below, we summarize the results and potential impacts of hydrothermal alteration on radionuclide retardation and assess the importance of this process to radionuclide migration from a GHRDC. We also use statistical tools (i.e. PCA) to help us determine the major drivers in affecting changes in measured Kd values induced by hydrothermal alteration. These experiments also allow us to test the predictive ability of our component additivity approach to surface complexation and ion exchange. Our guiding hypothesis is that a robust surface complexation/ion exchange model and associated database can effectively predict changes in radionuclide sorption behavior resulting from the hydrothermal alteration of mineralogy in a repository near field. In November 2024 the paper “Selenium interaction with iron minerals: Quantitative comparison of sorption and coprecipitation impacts on mobility” was published in Applied Geochemistry. A short update of results to date is presented below. In FY25, we also actively supported the DITUSC project, which is part of the EURADII initiative, as associate partners. We are executing the Migration2025 conference and support associated the NEA-TDB and Thermochimie workshops that will provide critical international engagements and develop consensus and synergy in thermodynamics as it relates to supporting the US nuclear waste repository program.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2022

Salt International Collaborations (FY22 Update)

This report summarizes the international collaborations conducted by Sandia funded by the US Department of Energy Office (DOE) of Nuclear Energy Spent Fuel and Waste Science & Technology (SFWST) as part of the Sandia National Laboratories Salt R&D and Salt International work packages. This report satisfies the level-three milestone M3SF-22SN010303063. Several stand-alone sections make up this summary report, each completed by the participants. The sections discuss international collaborations on geomechanical benchmarking exercises (WEIMOS), granular salt reconsolidation (KOMPASS), engineered barriers (RANGERS), numerical model comparison (DECOVALEX) and an NEA Salt Club working group on the development of scenarios as part of the performance assessment development process. Finally, we summarize events related to the US/German Workshop on Repository Research, Design and Operations. The work summarized in this annual update has occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and little international or domestic travel has occurred. Most of the collaborations have been conducted via email or as virtual meetings, but a slow return to travel and in-person meetings has begun.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS2019

Impact of the International Space Station Research Results

The International Space Station (ISS) facilitates research that benefits human lives on Earth and serves as the primary testing ground for technology development to sustain life in the extreme environment of space. To date, investigators have published a wide range of ISS science results, from improved theories about the creation of stars to the outcome of data mining “omics” repositories of previously completed ISS investigations. Because of the unique microgravity environment of the ISS laboratory and the multidisciplinary and international nature of the research, analyzing ISS scientific impacts is an exceptional challenge. As a result, the ISS Program Science Forum (PSF), made up of senior science representatives across the ISS international partnership, uses various methods to describe the impacts of ISS research activities. For the most part, past papers written by PSF members to assess the overall ISS research impact have focused on exhibiting ISS research impact by quantifying ISS research output or its perceived benefits for humanity. This paper proposes a new assessment of ISS impact from the perspective of the end users’ needs. To that end, the authors use visualizations and metrics of scientific publication data to show the ISS research influence on traditional scientific fields, its global reach and the benefits to people across the globe.

Diallo, Ousmane N.↗

DOE OSTI2021

DPC Disposal Concepts of Operations. Final Report

The U.S. Department of Energy supports an R&D program for evaluating approaches to direct disposal of commercial spent fuel in dual-purpose canisters (DPCs). The major thrusts include alternative measures for treating the possibility of internal criticality events in DPC-based waste packages after thousands of years in a repository. These measures include: 1) injectable fillers, 2) analysis of the consequences of criticality events in a repository should they occur, and 3) options for modifying fuel assemblies or baskets in DPCs at the time they are loaded. This report presents a snapshot of progress in each of these areas drawing on deliverable reports generated during FY18 through FY20. Another aspect of the R&D program is to develop concepts of operations for repositories that would permanently dispose of DPC-based waste packages, considering different generic host media (not site-specific). The idea is to examine whether the disposal of large, heavy, heat-generating waste packages is technically feasible, and to identify the engineering challenges that would arise during implementation of the different disposal concepts. Descriptions of repository features are presented for repositories in salt media, argillite (clay/shale) media, crystalline (e.g., granitic) media, and unsaturated media (considering either alluvium or hard rock). Thermal management criteria for each concept are presented in terms of the maximum waste package thermal power at emplacement, when the repository could be opened, and the duration of repository emplacement operations. The overall message of this report is that direct disposal of commercial spent fuel is technically feasible in different types of geologic host media, but that thermal management and postclosure criticality impose different constraints on each concept. Engineering challenges are recognized and discussed. Treatment of postclosure criticality is identified as an important technical question that receives the majority of attention in the R&D program.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2023

SAM Software Quality Assurance Plan Implementation and NQA-1 Assessment

The System Analysis Module (SAM) is an advanced and modern system analysis tool being developed at Argonne National Laboratory under the U.S. DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. As a modern-day software, SAM development included efforts to follow best practices in software development. These best practices include version control using git, independent reviews of development activities, and detailed descriptions of developments and bug fixes using the GitLab issue and merge request system. In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), the SAM development team set out to formalize a Software Quality Assurance (SQA) program that allowed industry partners to credit the informal steps being taken by the SAM development team to ensure the quality of the software. As part of formalizing an SQA program, a SQA Plan (SQAP) was developed, implemented, and assessed. The SAM SQAP targets compliance with NQA-1-2008/2009 Addenda. The SQAP builds on the MOOSE SQAP and the Argonne SSQAPP while accounting for the needs of the multi-organization SAM development team. Modifications to the SAM repository structure, including a new testing system, updated test cases, and the development of an internal website, facilitate the implementation of the SAM SQAP. The initial assessment of the SAM SQAP indicated that the SAM SQAP was adequately and effectively implemented and additional work was required to improve the compliance of the SAM SQAP with NQA-1 2008/2009 Addenda. Several improvements to the SQAP have already been drafted to address these assessments and future work is planned to further improve the SAM SQAP in support of end-user needs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS2017

Benefits of International Collaboration on the International Space Station

The International Space Station is a valuable platform for research in space, but the benefits are limited if research is only conducted by individual countries. Through the efforts of the ISS Program Science Forum, international science working groups, and interagency cooperation, international collaboration on the ISS has expanded as ISS utilization has matured. Members of science teams benefit from working with counterparts in other countries. Scientists and institutions bring years of experience and specialized expertise to collaborative investigations, leading to new perspectives and approaches to scientific challenges. Combining new ideas and historical results brings synergy and improved peer-reviewed scientific methods and results. World-class research facilities can be expensive and logistically complicated, jeopardizing their full utilization. Experiments that would be prohibitively expensive for a single country can be achieved through contributions of resources from two or more countries, such as crew time, up- and down mass, and experiment hardware. Cooperation also avoids duplication of experiments and hardware among agencies. Biomedical experiments can be completed earlier if astronauts or cosmonauts from multiple agencies participate. Countries responding to natural disasters benefit from ISS imagery assets, even if the country has no space agency of its own. Students around the world participate in ISS educational opportunities, and work with students in other countries, through open curriculum packages and through international competitions. Even experiments conducted by a single country can benefit scientists around the world, through specimen sharing programs and publicly accessible "open data" repositories. For ISS data, these repositories include GeneLab, the Physical Science Informatics System, and different Earth data systems. Scientists can conduct new research using ISS data without having to launch and execute their own experiments. Multilateral collections of research results publications, maintained by the ISS international partnership and accessible via nasa.gov, make ISS results available worldwide, and encourage new users, ideas and research.

Hasbrook, Pete↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Data Preservation Strategies for Ensuring Ongoing Use and Access: Leveraging the Capabilities at the NASA DAACs

As NASA prepares for the follow on to EOS through the deployment of many new space and airborne-based assets envisioned under the ESO initiative, the need for ensuring user access to the very large and diverse archive of past missions remains a critical endeavor for current and future research. The ESDIS team has been working for many years on developing strategies and implementations that will make the linkage between the data held in our archives and the emerging missions possible. The focus on how best to preserve these past data has proven to be a collaborative effort, and one that may well benefit from the adoption of innovative technical tools that enable organizational efficiencies. This poster reveals both aspects of NASA’s EOS data repository strategy by discussing the collaborative community efforts of development of ISO 19165-2 – an international standard supported by a team from many countries around the world, the use by EOSDIS DAACs of a Preservation Content Specification, and ongoing work with mission teams to ensure mission data and all associated information are preserved and available for current and future use.

Francis Lindsay↗

NASA NTRS2008

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository (Repository) is a storage bank that is used to maintain biological specimens over extended periods of time and under well-controlled conditions. Samples from the International Space Station (ISS), including blood and urine, will be collected, processed and archived during the preflight, inflight and postflight phases of ISS missions. This investigation has been developed to archive biosamples for use as a resource for future space flight related research. The International Space Station (ISS) provides a platform to investigate the effects of microgravity on human physiology prior to lunar and exploration class missions. The storage of crewmember samples from many different ISS flights in a single repository will be a valuable resource with which researchers can study space flight related changes and investigate physiological markers. The development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Biological Specimen Repository will allow for the collection, processing, storage, maintenance, and ethical distribution of biosamples to meet goals of scientific and programmatic relevance to the space program. Archiving of the biosamples will provide future research opportunities including investigating patterns of physiological changes, analysis of components unknown at this time or analyses performed by new methodologies.

McMonigal, Kathleen A.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Benefits of International Collaboration on the International Space Station

The International Space Station is a valuable platform for research in space, but the benefits are limited if research is only conducted by individual countries. Through the e orts of the ISS Program Science Forum, international science working groups, and interagency cooperation, international collaboration on the ISS has expanded as ISS utilization has matured. Members of science teams benefit from working with counterparts in other countries. Scientists and institutions bring years of experience and specialized expertise to collaborative investigations, leading to new perspectives and approaches to scientific challenges. Combining new ideas and historical results brings synergy and improved peer-reviewed scientific methods and results. World-class research facilities can be expensive and logistically complicated, jeopardizing their full utilization. Experiments that would be prohibitively expensive for a single country can be achieved through contributions of resources from two or more countries, such as crew time, up- and downmass, and experiment hardware. Cooperation also avoids duplication of experiments and hardware among agencies. Biomedical experiments can be completed earlier if astronauts or cosmonauts from multiple agencies participate. Countries responding to natural disasters benefit from ISS imagery assets, even if the country has no space agency of its own. Students around the world participate in ISS educational opportunities, and work with students in other countries, through open curriculum packages and through international competitions. Even experiments conducted by a single country can benefit scientists around the world, through specimen sharing programs and publicly accessible \open data" repositories. For ISS data, these repositories include GeneLab, the Physical Science Informatics System, and different Earth science data systems. Scientists can conduct new research using ISS data without having to launch and execute their own experiments. Multilateral collections of research results publications, maintained by the ISS international partnership and accessible via nasa.gov, make ISS results available worldwide, and encourage new users, ideas and research. The paper explores effectiveness of international collaboration in the course of the ISS Program execution. The collaboration history, its evolution and maturation, change of focus during its different phases, and growth of its effectiveness (in accordance with the especially established criteria) are also considered in the paper in the light of benefits for the entire ISS community. With the International Space Station extended through at least 2024, more crew time becoming available and new facilities arriving on board the ISS, these benefits of international scientific collaboration on the ISS can only increase.

Robinson, Julie A.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Mapping and Synthesis of International Biomass Supply Assessments

This report, Mapping and Synthesis of International Biomass Supply Assessments (or Global Biomass Resource Assessment) is the first step in a long-term process to assemble data from around the globe into a virtual repository that can be updated and provide user-friendly access to the data. The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Biofuture Platform Initiative recommended that research be completed to “address the need for internationally accepted benchmarks quantifying sustainable biomass feedstock supplies.” To act upon the CEM Biofuture recommendation, in 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) commissioned Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to prepare this report as the primary deliverable for a one-year assignment to assemble data into a citable form that could help resolve the persistent question presented related to bioenergy policy, “Is there enough sustainable biomass?” In response to that query, this report includes information received by August 2024 from national CEM representatives, collaborators, and public sources on current and future sustainable biomass supplies in 62 nations,and subsequently documents (a) the approach used by ORNL to analyze and categorize the information received in a manner that enables aggregation and comparability; and (b) recommendations for next steps and guidelines to help others update and harmonize future assessments of global sustainable biomass supplies.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗