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Applied Parallel Metadata Indexing

The GPFS Archive is parallel archive is a parallel archive used by hundreds of users in the Turquoise collaboration network. It houses 4+ petabytes of data in more than 170 million files. Currently, users must navigate the file system to retrieve their data, requiring them to remember file paths and names. A better solution might allow users to tag data with meaningful labels and searach the archive using standard and user-defined metadata, while maintaining security. last summer, I developed the backend to a tool that adheres to these design goals. The backend works by importing GPFS metadata into a MongoDB cluster, which is then indexed on each attribute. This summer, the author implemented security and developed the user interfae for the search tool. To meet security requirements, each database table is associated with a single user, which only stores records that the user may read, and requires a set of credentials to access. The interface to the search tool is implemented using FUSE (Filesystem in USErspace). FUSE is an intermediate layer that intercepts file system calls and allows the developer to redefine how those calls behave. In the case of this tool, FUSE interfaces with MongoDB to issue queries and populate output. A FUSE implementation is desirable because it allows users to interact with the search tool using commands they are already familiar with. These security and interface additions are essential for a usable product.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

EDOS Evolution to Support NASA Future Earth Sciences Missions

This paper presents a ground system architecture to service future NASA decadal missions and in particular, the high rate science data downlinks, by evolving EDOS current infrastructure and upgrading high rate network lines. The paper will also cover EDOS participation to date in formulation and operations concepts for the respective missions to understand the particular mission needs and derived requirements such as data volumes, downlink rates, data encoding, and data latencies. Future decadal requirements such as onboard data recorder management and file protocols drive the need to emulate these requirements within the ground system. The EDOS open system modular architecture is scalable to accommodate additional missions using the current sites antennas and future sites as well and meet the data security requirements and fulfill mission's objectives

Cordier, Guy R.↗

Basic Research Needs for Microelectronics: Report of the Office of Science Workshop on Basic Research Needs for Microelectronics, October 23 – 25, 2018

Moore’s Law — realized via a combination of device physics advances, technology investments, and economic returns— allowed the number of transistors on a chip to double roughly every two years for over five decades. During those five decades, the cost of a unit of computing dropped by eight orders of magnitude. Those declines and the associated computing advances have dramatically affected every aspect of society, from science and technology through business and health to national security. Today, further computing advances are limited by the economics of chip fabrication and the physical limits on transistors, electrical interconnects, and memory elements at the nanoscale. If we are to evolve new generations of computing systems over the next decades that are both faster and more energy efficient, a complete reorganization of the science and technology underlying computing is needed. Within the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) mission, which includes a pivotal and historical role in the evolution of computing, the needs are critical as well. Advanced computing and simulation underpin all aspects of DOE missions in energy, the environment, and national security, requiring energy-efficient computing beyond the exascale range. Edge computing, low-power computing technologies, and computers optimized for artificial intelligence are key to next-generation scientific facilities for high-energy physics research, as well as neutron and x-ray facilities. Finally, microelectronics will also play a major role in reshaping the U.S. electricity grid: from its current state to one that is cleaner, more efficient, cyber-secure, and resilient to widespread events, both natural and manmade. Realizing this vision will require advancements in both system architecture and power electronics. To enable continued advances in computing technologies, a fundamental rethinking is needed of the science behind the materials, synthesis and placement technologies, architectures, and algorithms. This cannot be modular and linear, as it has been in the past. Rather, these advances must be developed collectively, in a spirit of co-design, where each scientific discipline informs and engages the other to achieve orders of magnitude improvements in system-level performance. To explore these challenges, the Office of Science convened a Basic Research Needs Workshop for Microelectronics in October 2018 and charged workshop participants to conduct a thorough assessment of the scientific issues associated with advanced microelectronics technologies for applications relevant to the DOE mission. The workshop examined research relevant to the extension of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and beyond CMOS technologies; however, topics of direct relevance to quantum information science and quantum computing were outside the scope of this workshop.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Domestic Nuclear Power Plant Physical Security Reevaluation – High Level Project Plan

The goal for this effort is a validated method which can be used to implement an updated physical security regime to optimize the physical security at domestic nuclear power plants (existing and future). It is the intent for the evaluation recommendations to provide the technical basis for an optimized plant security posture, which could consider reduce conservatisms in that posture, and potentially reduce security costs for the nuclear industry while meeting all security requirements.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Defining and Computing a Valued Based Cyber-Security Measure

In earlier work, we presented a value based measure of cybersecurity that quantifies the security of a system in concrete terms, specifically, in terms of how much each system stakeholder stands to lose (in dollars per hour of operation) as a result of security threats and system vulnerabilities; our metric varies according to the stakes that each stakeholder has in meeting each security requirement. In this paper, we discuss the specification and design of a system that collects, updates, and maintains all the information that pertains to estimating our cybersecurity measure, and offers stakeholders quantitative means to make security-related decisions.

Algorithms↗

Information Security and Integrity Systems

Viewgraphs from the Information Security and Integrity Systems seminar held at the University of Houston-Clear Lake on May 15-16, 1990 are presented. A tutorial on computer security is presented. The goals of this tutorial are the following: to review security requirements imposed by government and by common sense; to examine risk analysis methods to help keep sight of forest while in trees; to discuss the current hot topic of viruses (which will stay hot); to examine network security, now and in the next year to 30 years; to give a brief overview of encryption; to review protection methods in operating systems; to review database security problems; to review the Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria (Orange Book); to comment on formal verification methods; to consider new approaches (like intrusion detection and biometrics); to review the old, low tech, and still good solutions; and to give pointers to the literature and to where to get help. Other topics covered include security in software applications and development; risk management; trust: formal methods and associated techniques; secure distributed operating system and verification; trusted Ada; a conceptual model for supporting a B3+ dynamic multilevel security and integrity in the Ada runtime environment; and information intelligence sciences.

Source record↗

User Access to Scientific Facilities via 5G: A Cyber Security Thought Experiment

5G is more than an over-the-air radio technology upgrade. It is a strategy to extend Mobile Network Operator service offerings beyond traditional voice, instant messaging and Internet access. 5G Mobile Network Operators will offer new telecommunication services that include enhanced guarantees of confidentiality, integrity and availability. How could such services change the way Science collaborations connect scientists to supercomputers and other scientific facilities? Current scientific collaborations implicitly trust cloud service providers to securely store and process data. The perceived risks of outsourcing Science data security are counterbalanced by assurances that cloud providers operate at a scale that allows them to implement security measures impractical for Science collaborations (e.g. continuous system administrator behavioral monitoring and strict individual separation of duties). If that is true for a cloud service provider like Amazon Web Services (2018 revenue: $25.7 billion), could it also be true for Mobile Network Operators like Verizon Wireless (2018 revenue: $91.7 billion) or AT&T Mobility (2018 revenue: $71.3 billion)? DOE Leadership Class supercomputer facility users currently access them from the public Internet via Secure Shell. The sponsors and operators of the supercomputer facilities have determined that the public Internet path between the Scientist’s Device and the Login Node does not natively provide enough confidentiality or integrity to protect those communications. Therefore, the facilities achieve additional confidentiality and integrity by requiring Secure Shell encryption across those untrusted network paths. Using 5G Network Slice technology, a Mobile Network Operator may offer communication services between supercomputer users and facilities that natively provide confidentiality and integrity guarantees. Sponsors and operators of supercomputer facilities may determine that these guarantees provide enough confidentiality and integrity to protect those communications. If so, a 5G Network Slice could replace an SSH session running over the public Internet. Finally, this use case could be extended to other Office of Science user facility access requirements. Consider microscopy instruments at (e.g.) the Center for Nanoscale Materials or the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. The embedded systems controlling such instruments may not always support encrypted network access technologies like SSH. 5G Network Slices may offer an alternative to current VPN or SSH tunneling techniques, with additional benefits like guaranteed minimum bandwidth.

5G↗

NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate System Security Engineering Approaches

System security engineering (SSE) is a set of formal engineering methods and is considered a subset of systems engineering. It is a relatively new development in systems engineering with the initial NIST (National Institute of Standards) standard published in November of 2016 with updates in 2018, and 2022. The guiding principles in our methodology are based in NIST Special Publication 800-160 Vol. 1 “Systems Security Engineering: Considerations For A Multidisciplinary Approach In The Engineering Of Trustworthy Secure Systems” and integrate methodologies from common IT (Information Technology) threat modeling approaches utilizing MBSE (Model-Based Systems Engineering). The presentation will discuss how our teams utilize SSE and MBSE (Model-Based Systems Engineering) to develop secure architectures for systems under development in our NASA aeronautics research environment. This includes the activities to develop Protection Needs (PN) that, in turn result in security requirements in the design context and policies for the future state operational context for system protection. The process of applying SSE to analyze project architectures and ConOps (Concept of Operations) is intended to ensure the transferred research is both secure and securable in a “real-world” setting.

Systems Security Engineering↗

Can you sign a quantum state?

Cryptography with quantum states exhibits a number of surprising and counterintuitive features. In a 2002 work, Barnum et al. argue that these features imply that digital signatures for quantum states are impossible (Barnum et al., FOCS 2002). In this work, we ask: can all forms of signing quantum data, even in a possibly weak sense, be completely ruled out? We give two results which shed significant light on this basic question. First, we prove an impossibility result for digital signatures for quantum data, which extends the result of Barnum et al. Specifically, we show that no nontrivial combination of correctness and security requirements can be fulfilled, beyond what is achievable simply by measuring the quantum message and then signing the outcome. In other words, only classical signature schemes exist. We then show a positive result: a quantum state can be signed with the same security guarantees as classically, provided that it is also encrypted with the public key of the intended recipient. Following classical nomenclature, we call this notion quantum signcryption. Classically, signcryption is only interesting if it provides superior performance to encrypt-then-sign. Quantumly, it is far more interesting: it is the only signing method available. We develop "as-strong-as-classical" security definitions for quantum signcryption and give secure constructions based on post-quantum public-key primitives. Along the way, we show that a natural hybrid method of combining classical and quantum schemes can be used to "upgrade" a secure classical scheme to the fully-quantum setting, in a wide range of cryptographic settings including signcryption, authenticated encryption, and CCA security.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

SRS K-AREA MATERIAL STORAGE - EXPANDING CAPABILITIES

In support of the Department of Energy’s continued plans to de-inventory and reduce the footprint of Cold War era weapons’ material production sites, the K-Area Material Storage (KAMS) facility, located in the K-Area Complex (KAC) at the Savannah River Site reservation, has expanded since its startup authorization in 2000 to accommodate DOE’s material consolidation mission. During the facility’s growth and expansion, KAMS will have expanded its authorization capability of material types and storage containers to allow up to 8200 total shipping containers once the current expansion effort completes in 2014. Recognizing the need to safely and cost effectively manage other surplus material across the DOE Complex, KAC is constantly evaluating the storage of different material types within K area. When modifying storage areas in KAC, the Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) must undergo extensive calculations and reviews; however, without an extensive and proven security posture the possibility for expansion would not be possible. The KAC maintains the strictest adherence to safety and security requirements for all the SNM it handles. Disciplined Conduct of Operations and Conduct of Projects are demonstrated throughout this historical overview highlighting various improvements in capability, capacity, demonstrated cost effectiveness and utilization of the KAC as the DOE Center of Excellence for safe and secure storage of surplus SNM.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Overview of NASA's Air Traffic Management - eXploration (ATM-X) Project

Projected increases in new vehicle types, new missions, and the continual growth in traditional (e.g., airlines, general aviation) aviation will require changes to the current air traffic system, particularly to accommodate the desire of operators to be more involved in air traffic decisions. To address these challenges, the National Airspace System needs to undergo a transformation to a more scalable, flexible, user-focused system that addresses safety and security requirements and resiliency for current and new users. A system designed to integrate modular software services, provided by users, third parties and government for air traffic management functions, will be scalable and more easily allow modernization and for collaboration between users and service providers. ATM-X is responding to NASA's pivot towards integrating projected new, diverse entrants into the NAS, while also leveraging NASA's prior ATM achievements that continue to improve traditional airspace operations. This project is a two-phased approach to conduct research and focused evaluations to assess the feasibility of a service-based approach and to identify critical design considerations to enable airspace access for new entrants, integrated with current traditional operations. Phase 1 research will be conducted to determine what is needed to reach the ATM-X goals based on specific use-cases to enable large-scale, passenger-carrying Urban Air Mobility operations in a metroplex environment, and also to improve traditional operations in the Northeast Region leveraging mature NASA technologies. Some of these evaluations will be conducted in simulations and field activities. Phase 2 will build upon Phase 1 towards more defined, focused research and field demonstrations in real-world environments to integrate multiple elements of a scalable, service-based ATM-X concept.

air traffic management↗

Plutonium Pit Production - Savannah River Site (Plutonium Pit Production Mission)

The Savannah River Site (SRS) has been providing strategic materials to maintain the U.S. nuclear deterrent for 70 years. Establishing plutonium pit production capabilities at SRS will leverage existing infrastructure at the site and optimize use of the talented workforce in the region to meet validated national security requirements. This new mission will require a large skilled workforce for decades to come. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC, the management and operating (M&O) partner at SRS, has established teams for both the transition of the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility and the development of the proposed Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility (SRPPF). In addition, NNSA remains committed to safely and securely removing surplus plutonium from South Carolina in a timely and cost-effective manner by using the dilute and dispose method.

Source record↗

Test and Evaluation for Enhanced Security: A Quantitative Method to Incorporate Expert Knowledge into Test Planning Decisions.

Complex systems are comprised of technical, social, political and environmental factors as well as the programmatic factors of cost, schedule and risk. Testing these systems for enhanced security requires expert knowledge in many different fields. It is important to test these systems to ensure effectiveness, but testing is limited to due cost, schedule, safety, feasibility and a myriad of other reasons. Without an effective decision framework for Test and Evaluation (T&E) planning that can take into consideration technical as well as programmatic factors and leverage expert knowledge, security in complex systems may not be assessed effectively. Therefore, this paper covers the identification of the current T&E planning problem and an approach to include the full variety of factors and leverage expert knowledge in T&E planning through the use of Bayesian Networks (BN).

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Toward Urban Water Security: Broadening the Use of Machine Learning Methods for Mitigating Urban Water Hazards

Due to the complex interactions of human activity and the hydrological cycle, achieving urban water security requires comprehensive planning processes that address urban water hazards using a holistic approach. However, the effective implementation of such an approach requires the collection and curation of large amounts of disparate data, and reliable methods for modeling processes that may be co-evolutionary yet traditionally represented in non-integrable ways. In recent decades, many hydrological studies have utilized advanced machine learning and information technologies to approximate and predict physical processes, yet none have synthesized these methods into a comprehensive urban water security plan. In this paper, we review ways in which advanced machine learning techniques have been applied to specific aspects of the hydrological cycle and discuss their potential applications for addressing challenges in mitigating multiple water hazards over urban areas. We also describe a vision that integrates these machine learning applications into a comprehensive watershed-to-community planning workflow for smart-cities management of urban water resources.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Paperless Solution

REI Systems, Inc. developed a software solution that uses the Internet to eliminate the paperwork typically required to document and manage complex business processes. The data management solution, called Electronic Handbooks (EHBs), is presently used for the entire SBIR program processes at NASA. The EHB-based system is ideal for programs and projects whose users are geographically distributed and are involved in complex management processes and procedures. EHBs provide flexible access control and increased communications while maintaining security for systems of all sizes. Through Internet Protocol- based access, user authentication and user-based access restrictions, role-based access control, and encryption/decryption, EHBs provide the level of security required for confidential data transfer. EHBs contain electronic forms and menus, which can be used in real time to execute the described processes. EHBs use standard word processors that generate ASCII HTML code to set up electronic forms that are viewed within a web browser. EHBs require no end-user software distribution, significantly reducing operating costs. Each interactive handbook simulates a hard-copy version containing chapters with descriptions of participants' roles in the online process.

Source record↗

Regulation of the First British Power Reactor to Enter into an Extended Period of 'Care and Maintenance' - 18028

All eleven of the British first-generation Magnox nuclear power plants have now ceased operating and are in various stages of decommissioning. The Magnox reactors were graphite moderated, using carbon dioxide as the primary coolant. The reactor cores are contained in steel reactor pressure vessels, except for the last two stations which have pre-stressed concrete pressure vessels. All but two of the Magnox reactor stations have been completely de-fueled. The spent fuel removed has been despatched for reprocessing at Sellafield in the north-west of England. On behalf of the UK government the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is responsible for cleaning up the majority of the civil nuclear legacy. The current NDA decommissioning strategy is to prepare the Magnox reactor sites for an extended period of Care and Maintenance (C and M), during which quiescent safe storage will take place (also known as safe enclosure), whereby the cores and associated structures will accrue the benefits of radioactive decay over a period of decades. This will reduce the radiation doses to workers during final dismantling and site clearance. The two Magnox rector units at the Bradwell licensed nuclear site in the south-east of England are the first scheduled to enter this quiescent safe-storage period. This is planned to commence in the second-half of 2018, and is scheduled to last for around 70 years. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the independent regulatory body, responsible for enforcing safety and security requirements at nuclear installations in Great Britain (GB). This paper outlines the national strategic context and how ONR's regulatory regime is applied to nuclear power plant decommissioning. It addresses some of the specific challenges posed at Bradwell during the preparatory works for entry to C and M and how ONR has addressed these. It describes how this will culminate in a regulatory decision on the acceptability of the safety and security of the Bradwell site to enter this new stage of its life cycle. Over the last few years ONR has assessed and inspected various safety aspects of decommissioning, radioactive waste management and other preparations for Bradwell's entry into C and M. Some of the operator's proposals have provided challenges to ONR, particularly where there have been changes to established approaches taken at other sites, as the licensee seeks to minimise its costs. These have included how far to remove redundant structures, systems and components prior to C and M; how to define interim and end-states for fuel cooling ponds and other contaminated areas; and how to treat and store Intermediate Level Waste (ILW), for which there is no geological disposal facility yet available. ONR has begun its final assessment of safety and security justifications supplied by the site licensee, Magnox Ltd (ML). ONR is using its legal powers conferred to it under the site licence conditions to authorise this first-of-a-kind transition into a 70 year period of safe storage. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Modeling, Simulation and Analysis of Public Key Infrastructure

Security is an essential part of network communication. The advances in cryptography have provided solutions to many of the network security requirements. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is the foundation of the cryptography applications. The main objective of this research is to design a model to simulate a reliable, scalable, manageable, and high-performance public key infrastructure. We build a model to simulate the NASA public key infrastructure by using SimProcess and MatLab Software. The simulation is from top level all the way down to the computation needed for encryption, decryption, digital signature, and secure web server. The application of secure web server could be utilized in wireless communications. The results of the simulation are analyzed and confirmed by using queueing theory.

Liu, Yuan-Kwei↗

EV Charging Infrastructure Energization An Overview of Approaches for Simplifying and Accelerating Timelines to Processing EV Charging Load Service Requests

The United States has seen significant growth in electric vehicle (EV) adoption, leading to increased demand for EV charging infrastructure. Over the past decade, EV charging infrastructure site developers, site hosts, and electric distribution utilities have navigated the process to integrate chargers onto the electric grid. Site developers and site hosts have raised the alarm that the integration process for high-powered EV charging projects does not meet the needs of the EV market for timeliness or cost. High-powered charging stations typically require a load service request or an agreement with the local utility to connect to the grid. The process of energizing a new high-powered charging site can be complex and time-consuming, often taking up to 2 years. This timeline is the result of current utility energization processes having been designed for construction projects that take longer to build (i.e., buildings). The specific challenges stem from various factors, including compartmentalization in application processes, the integration of EV charging process approvals with other distributed energy resources (DERs), and the need to ensure grid reliability. The energization process needs to evolve to meet the growing demand for high-powered EV charging. This white paper compiles information gathered through various conversations with key stakeholders, including utilities, utility regulators, EV charging operators, site developers, and authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ) as well as through an extensive literature review. This document identifies the challenges and provides potential solutions to streamline the process of connecting EV charging infrastructure to the power grid in the United States, serving as a starting point for future conversations around these solutions. The solutions noted in this white paper require collaborative efforts among utilities, regulators, and EV charging infrastructure developers to streamline the grid connection process for EV charging infrastructure. They are broadly organized into four areas: 1. Increase data access and transparency: Develop automated load service request tools, integrate hosting capacity and load service request analyses, incorporate EV adoption forecasts, and provide transparency on the processing queue. 2. Improve energization processes and timing: Create fast-track options based on prescreening criteria, provide flexibility or phased approvals in the load service request/interconnection process, build internal knowledge within utilities about EV charging technologies, and provide standardized workforce training. 3. Promote economic efficiency: Right size distribution components to accurately reflect the load requirements of EV charging infrastructure, make proactive investments in grid infrastructure based on EV adoption forecasts and growth projections, and consider energy equity and environmental justice factors such as equitable access to EV charging when planning infrastructure. 4. Improve grid reliability and resilience: Use load management/power control systems (PCS) at EV charging stations, adopt and implement harmonized standards for communication protocols and information models between the EV charging and grid control infrastructure, and address cybersecurity considerations by implementing robust security measures and standards for EV charging infrastructure—with particular emphasis on clarifying the security requirements for the interface to the grid. The objective of the solutions proposed in this white paper is to accelerate the timeline and decrease costs associated with connecting EV charging infrastructure to the grid. Electric utilities, utility regulators, EV charging infrastructure developers, and site hosts will first need to understand which solutions are available in their service territory, and if warranted, which combination of solutions would support their specific needs. Through the successful implementations of solutions at scale detailed here, industry will demonstrate a new and innovative ecosystem where timely deployment and energization of EV charging infrastructure with greater grid resiliency and reliability is a reality.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗