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At least 811 records · Page 45
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Development of a multi-purpose container system for the storage, transport and disposal of PWR spent fuel in the UK - 15466

Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and is responsible for implementing UK Government policy on geological disposal of higher activity radioactive waste. An aspect of the generic work programme that underpins the current generic disposal concepts includes the development of the associated disposal containers. To date RWM has focused on the development of a range of disposal container designs that fulfil the requirements for transport and disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) for legacy high heat generating wastes, one of which includes legacy Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) spent nuclear fuel (SF). In line with a number of European countries exploring deep geological disposal, the conceptual disposal container solution developed for this waste type has a capacity of 4 PWR fuel assemblies. Since 2013, the feasibility of developing an alternative higher capacity disposal container design based around the Multi-Purpose Container (MPC) concept has been explored. In general terms, MPCs are containers that are designed to meet requirements for safe containment of radioactive waste during storage, transport and disposal. The fundamental design philosophy of the MPC is that once the waste is packaged in an MPC, it would not need to be handled again. That is, after a period of initial cooling in a fuel pond, the SF could be packaged for long term dry storage and would not require direct handling for its eventual transport to, and disposal in, a GDF. The novel feature of the MPC system design considered is the inclusion of an additional overpack specifically for the final deep geological disposal phase. The conceptual MPC and its associated storage, transfer, transport and thick walled carbon steel disposal overpack have been developed to a conceptual level of design detail to demonstrate concept feasibility, with the final design solution confirming a MPC system with a capacity of 12 PWR SF assembles. This represents the highest capacity PWR MPC system that complies with the mass and rail gauge limits of the UK W6a rail gauge. Such a capacity realises a contents loading three times that of the standard PWR disposal container and presented technical challenges from both a structural performance and thermal perspective; necessitating the need for the inclusion of features to enhance heat transfer from the central fuel assemblies within the MPC and novel lid features on the transport container overpack to maintain structural integrity and containment during the hypothetical accident conditions of transport tests. In developing the MPC system conceptual design it is recognised that, depending upon the safety functions of the MPC disposal overpack, the choice of carbon steel material may not be suitable for all geological environments. Consequently, the MPC system design and its materials of construction will require further evaluation once detailed knowledge of the disposal concept to be implemented, its safety functions and geological environment are known. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Transmutation Fuels Development in the Advanced Fuels Campaign

Metallic fuels have a history of use that spans the entire nuclear age, especially in association with the development of the LMFBR. Initially, metallic fuels were employed due to their ease of fabrication and high heavy metal density (which led to the most favorable breeding efficiencies in fast reactors). During subsequent decades of use, metallic fuel technology has matured significantly, leading to the realization of major benefits in the areas of fuel reliability and burnup, proliferation-resistant recycling, remote fabrication, and passive reactor safety. Such characteristics continue to make metallic fuels a highly attractive technology, especially for use with future sodium fast reactors. Current research and development activities on metallic fuels in DOE's Advanced Fuels Campaign are focused on their potential use for actinide transmutation in advanced SFRs. In such a mission, metallic fuels would be employed as part of a closed fuel cycle into which plutonium and minor actinides (Am, Np) recovered from LWR spent fuel would be incorporated. All actinides in this metallic fuel would be fissioned or transmuted in a fast reactor to eliminate the extremely long-lived, heat-producing actinides in order to reduce the volume, heat load, and radio-toxicity burden on a future geological repository. Thus, the need exists to demonstrate reliable performance of metallic fuels with Pu and minor actinide constituents to very high burnup. As part of this application, there is also a need for a near zero-loss fabrication process, since losses during fuel fabrication are a potential source of long-lived actinides destined for geologic disposal. This paper presents the current state and future direction of the development of metallic fuels for actinide transmutation in the US. Metallic fuels have had a long history of use in sodium-cooled fast reactors. Continued research, development, and design innovation over a period of decades have demonstrated this fuel technology to be safe and reliable to extremely high burnups over a wide range of compositions. Their simple fabrication has historically given them a significant economic advantage over other fuel forms. Research and development on metallic fuels continues, with particular emphasis on showing that this fuel technology can incorporate significant quantities of plutonium and minor actinides for the purpose of efficiently and economically transmuting these elements in a fast-spectrum reactor. New fabrication methods to improve retention of the volatile fuel constituents during the casting process (and reduce waste generation), are being developed. Irradiation testing of the new metallic fuels has so far indicated that the new compositions, although differing significantly both in the quantities of Pu and minor actinides included and in the Zr alloying addition, perform as a function of fission density very analogously to the historic U-Zr and U-Pu-Zr fuels. In the next few years it is anticipated that a new casting furnace prototype will demonstrate that these new metallic fuel alloys can be fabricated at engineering scale, in a remote environment, with no significant fuel loss or waste generation. Irradiation tests currently underway will provide the performance data needed to assess fuel reliability/burnup capability and identify any unique behaviors that are a result of the new compositions. If these future results are consistent with the intermediate data available at present, metallic fuels are expected to continue to be a strong contender for the fuel technology choice of future fast reactors. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Ensuring Future Qualified Employees through Workforce Development Initiatives - 19183

UCOR, an AECOM-led partnership with Jacobs, manages the cleanup of the 2,200-acre East Tennessee Technology Park for its client, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The site was contaminated with radioactive, hazardous and industrial wastes generated by more than 40 years of national defense and energy missions. While successfully conducting its cleanup responsibilities, DoE's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and UCOR are strongly committed to developing the current and future workforce through the application of multiple partnering opportunities and the use of innovative learning techniques that are adaptive to different generations of learners. The goal is to maintain a highly-skilled workforce for cleanup activities while establishing bridges for the development and placement of our future workforce. The training and professional development of the UCOR workforce is provided by multiple sources, including UCOR in-house training, trade unions, regional higher educational institutions and regional technical schools. In concert with these partners, UCOR is working to maintain and expand the existing talent base, enhance safety, improve processes, and resolve challenges through aggressive and well-coordinated initiatives designed to develop the future workforce. While UCOR's efforts are primarily focused on the cleanup of DOE facilities, its workforce development programs can also benefit the commercial nuclear power industry - both in ongoing plant operations and in decommissioning aging plants as they come to the end of their useful life. UCOR's Workforce Development Program is built on four distinct pillars: - Higher Education; - Community Colleges; - Apprenticeship Readiness Program; - K-12 STEM Program. (authors)

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Session 058 - Panel: Ensuring Strong Return on Investment for DOE EM Technology Development: DOE Views (1/2) (R1.26)

The panel represented the views of US DOE National Laboratories and DOE Contractors and focused on DOE Technology Development Projects discussing how they approach tech development to maximize return on investment. Successful examples were discussed. Panelists with presentations: Ensuring a Strong ROI for DOE EM Technology Development (Jud Virden); The DOE EM Technology Development Technical Assistance Program (Carol Eddy-Dilek); SRR Liquid Waste Technology Development Program: Encouraging Creativity Maximize Return on Investment (Vijay Jain); Ensuring Strong Return on Investment for DOE EM Technology Development: A Vendor Perspective (Martin Williams)

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of the Mobile Systems for Conditioning of Disused Sealed Radioactive Sources in Serbia - 20105

Sealed radioactive sources (SRS) are being used worldwide in the field of medicine, agriculture, industry and research. They can be found in mobile as well as stationary devices. SRS contains radioactive material that is (a) permanently sealed in a capsule or (b) closely bounded and in a solid form. The capsule or material of an SRS should be strong enough to maintain leak tightness under the conditions of use and purpose for which the source was designed, also in case of accidents. In this case only emitted radiation is utilized. Firstly, the hazard from external radiation has to be considered, but the possibility of contamination due to fracture of the capsule should not be disregarded. The radioactive sources are composed of the radiating isotope contained in the filling medium, the single or double isotope holder that partially or totally surrounds the filling medium, the outer cover that contains the parts mentioned above and the capsule closed airtightly by welding or using some other method. The capsule must be tested for leakage periodically. If the SRS is no longer needed (e.g. replaced by a different technique) or it becomes useless for the intended application (e.g. the activity becomes too weak, the equipment containing the source works poorly or becomes obsolete, the source is damaged or leaking) it is considered disused. Disused sealed radioactive sources (DSRS) are typically conditioned and disposed if a facility is available. If the disposal option is not available, conditioned DSRS should be stored under proper conditions. In some cases, the radionuclide(s) in DSRS can be recovered/recycled or the DSRS can be repurposed for other applications. Conditioning of DSRS ensures containment of the radioactive material, provides confinement for leaking sources, provides sufficient radiation shielding, reduces storage/disposal volume by allowing consolidation of multiple sources into a single storage/disposal container, facilitates transport operations and contributes to safety and security as well. Typically, conditioning technologies are deployed either as permanently installed stationary systems in centralized or mobile on-site waste processing facilities, or in a mobile configuration. Centralized stationary facilities provide a single processing location for multiple users that requires transport of the waste to the facility. On the other hand, mobile systems may be provided for the selection and application of the optimum technology for a specific waste stream (such as DSRS) by bringing the process to the point where the waste is generated. In addition, mobile systems could offer additional flexibility by sharing equipment among multiple waste generating sites for processing campaigns that vary in duration, from very short periods to several years. The term 'mobile processing system' refers to any radioactive waste processing system or component which is designed to be transportable and which is not considered permanently installed. Two mobile system for conditioning of disused sealed radioactive sources are developed in the Public Company Nuclear Facilities of Serbia. Development of these mobile systems was supported by SRB9005 national project via Technical Cooperation of the IAEA. The first mobile system, built inside the 20 feet ISO container, will be used for conditioning of DSRS category 3 to 5. The second mobile system, built inside the 7 m long vehicle (Iveco Daily Van), will be used for dismantling of ionizing smoke detectors mostly with Am-241 sources. Designs of the mobile systems were defined in cooperation with two companies from Belgium (Belgoprocess and Leniko) and a Croatian company Ekoteh as well as with the support of the IAEA experts. The generic safety assessment and operational procedures for the mobile systems are developed. Based on safety assessment the acceptance criteria and operational limits and conditions are established. Operational procedures include: (a) equipment and material requirements, (b) assembling procedure of the mobile unit, (c) procedure for acceptance of devices for dismantling and conditioning, (d) dismantling procedure for devices to recover the DSRS, (e) characterization of DSRS, (f) encapsulation procedure of DSRS, (g) disassembling procedure of the mobile unit, and (h) keeping records, identification and traceability. In addition, radiation safety, health safety, security and emergency preparedness plans are prepared. The generic safety assessment and operational procedures could be updated with site specific requirements, DSRS inventory, and different needs for future customers. Developed mobile systems could be used in all situations when it is feasible to perform conditioning of DSRS on the spot in the county and worldwide. Development of these mobile units was just the first step to create the Reference Center for Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disused Radioactive Sources Conditioning for Small Facilities which can become a regional training center in the future, and/or as a tool for comprehensive national search and secure programmes. In the next phases development of e-learning platforms and blended learning packages as well as application for the IAEA Qualified Technical Centre (QTC) for the management of DSRS is foreseen. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of Real-Time Quantitative Safety Evaluation Method for Nuclear Power Plants

Human operators involved with large process control systems such as nuclear power plants (NPPs) perform significant roles in the operation of systems. In this reason, deficiencies in human factors such as poor HSI (Human System Interface) design, procedure, and training, are significant contributing factors to NPPs incidents and accidents. In this regard, many kinds of studies including human reliability analysis (HRA), operation support system, automation, have been conducted in order to reduce human errors. Among these fields of studies, automation has its own specialty since it mainly focuses on eliminating the human error-inducing tasks to reduce human error, while other topics are primarily focusing on reducing human error by aiding human operators during operation. It is commonly believed that replacing human operators to the automated system would guarantee greater efficiency, lower workloads, and fewer human errors. However, these beliefs are not always true in large and complex systems such as NPP, since excessive automation can generate new roles for human operators, change human operators' activities in unexpected ways, and inducing 'out-of-the-loop' (OOTL) problem. Especially, although human error probability drastically increases during abnormal situations in NPP due to overload of information, high workload, and short time available for diagnosis, automation is not actively adopted since conventional machine learning techniques are neither capable nor reliable to handle overwhelmingly complex abnormal situations in NPP. Recently, newly developed 'deep learning' techniques have been actively applied to many fields, and some of these studies proved that the artificial intelligences (AI) based on deep learning techniques show better performance than that of human being. In 2015, deep Q-network (DQN) which is one of the deep learning techniques was developed and applied to train AI that automatically plays various Atari 2800 games, and this AI surpassed the human-level playing in many kind of games. Also in 2016, 'AlphaGo', which was developed by 'Google Deepmind' based on deep learning technique to play the game of Go, was defeated Se-dol Lee who is the World Go champion with score of 4:1. In the point of view that the game of Go is considered as one of the challenging area in machine learning field, it is verified that these new machine learning techniques can perform well, even better than the human being in high-complexity tasks. Previously, most of AI applications in nuclear field were focusing on supporting human operators' tasks such as diagnosis and decision making by rapid classification and prediction, based on fixed training data sets. However, it is expected that AI can be applied to solve more complicated problems (i.e. automation during abnormal states in NPP) by adopting advanced machine learning methodologies. In order to apply the automation system in NPP, firstly it is needed to evaluate the status of the plant quantitatively in real-time, since the information about which state is better (i.e. safe) or worse (i.e. unsafe) is essential for training properly working automation AI. Currently, there are several methodologies for NPP safety evaluation such as probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), safety performance indicator (SPI). However, existing methodologies are not feasible for development of automated system since they are not capable for the cases which are not included in the underlying model, not able to consider delicate changes in the NPP, and hard to evaluate in real-time. Therefore, development of new NPP safety evaluation methodology which can cover previously mentioned requirements is needed to conduct the study on NPP automation further. In this study, the concept of early warning score (EWS) in medical field was adopted to develop the methodology which can evaluate the safety level of the NPP quantitatively and in real-time. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

PUEBLO OF ZIA RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY STUDY

The Pueblo of Zia will conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for best-use application(s) for development of renewable energy resources on its tribally held TRUST lands (i.e., Trust Lands of Zia Indian Reservation). The feasibility study is essential for determining the technical and economic viability of a future renewable project(s) on Zia tribal lands, including the potential economic and environmental benefits for the Tribe. Project Objectives: The feasibility study is essential for determining the technical and economic viability of future renewable project(s) on Zia tribal lands, including the potential economic and environmental benefits for the Tribe to: 1. Provide a balanced local renewable power supply for Zia Pueblo, its members, tribal offices, schools and buildings, and businesses on tribal lands 2. Provide a firm power supply for export and commercial market distribution 3. Provide economic development for the Tribe and its members, including job training and creation, each in accordance with the goals and objectives as conveyed by the Pueblo of Zia Tribal Council, Tribal Administration, and outlined in The Pueblo of Zia Comprehensive Plan and Pueblo of Zia — Zia Enterprise Zone Master Plan. A key goal of the study is to analyze the integrated development of solar, geothermal, and wind renewable energy resources at Zia Pueblo, with added potential to combine gas-fired generation to accomplish energy firming. Geothermal offers a base load source of energy, providing power continuously for end users. Wind and solar offer intermediate and peaking sources of energy, which can be harvested throughout the day, with periods of variable but predicable output. Variability will be managed in an integrated manner, using Zia Pueblo's combined renewable resources to generate high-quality power. Tasks are intended to collect, catalog, map, and analyze existing data on Zia Pueblo's renewable energy resource base and then match resource attributes with the most suitable renewable technologies for tribal energy consumption and needs. Also, key impacts on cultural and social values of Zia Pueblo will be addressed. Selected most favorable uses and technologies will be further investigated to determine initial feasibility and market for business development for up to six sites located on tribal land. The anticipated result will be the recommended development of sites that have sufficient background study completed to warrant a business plan, detailed engineering feasibility, and acquisition of project financing. Valuable technical and economic information will accrue from this study that may be applied to scale up or down the various power technology potential on Zia Pueblo for maximum benefit and best area(s) of application, project phasing and potential for future replicability and expansion.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Interatomic Potential Model Development: Finite-Temperature Dynamics Machine Learning

Developing an accurate interatomic potential model is a prerequisite for achieving reliable results from classical molecular dynamics (CMD) simulations; however, most of the potentials are biased as specific simulation purposes or conditions are considered in the parameterization. Here, for developing an unbiased potential, a finite-temperature dynamics machine learning (FTD-ML) approach is proposed, and its processes and feasibility are demonstrated using the Buckingham potential model and aluminum (Al) as an example. Compared with conventional machine learning approaches, FTD-ML exhibits three distinguished features: 1) FTD-ML intrinsically incorporates more extensive configurational and conditional space for enhancing the transferability of developed potentials; 2) FTD-ML employs various properties calculated directly from CMD, for ML model training and prediction validation against experimental data instead of first-principles data; 3) FTD-ML is much more computationally cost effective than first-principles simulations, especially when the system size increases over 10 3 atoms as employed in this research for ensuring reliable training data. The Al Buckingham potential developed by the FTD-ML approach exhibits good performance for general simulation purposes. Thus, the FTD-ML approach is expected to contribute to a fast development of interatomic potential model suitable for various simulation purposes and conditions, without limitation of model type, while maintaining experimental-level accuracy.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Southwest Pacific tropical cyclone development classification utilizing machine learning and synoptic composites

This study evaluates the ability of machine learning algorithms to classify tropical depressions (TDs) and tropical storms (TSs) in the western region of the southwest Pacific Ocean (SWPO). Decision rules are generated to predict the environment required for a depression to fully develop into a mature storm, and the most influential predictors in the classification decision are ranked. TD and TS are discriminated based on a maximum sustained wind speed threshold (≥17 ms -1 ). Various aerosol, thermodynamic, and dynamic parameters are extracted closest to the initiation point of each non-developing and developing sample. The covariates associated with each labelled sample are used to train a decision tree and random forest model. Results using a testing dataset suggest the random forest approach more accurately distinguishes between non-developing and developing samples. The classification accuracy of the decision tree and random forest are 72% and 91%, respectively. Random forest outperformed the decision tree by providing higher accuracy in test data. The most important variables for binary classification are sea salt aerosol optical depth (AOD), 1,000 mb relative humidity, and sea surface temperature. AOD is a quantitative estimate of the aerosols presents in the air through the extinction of a ray of light as it passes through the atmosphere. Mean composite maps constructed in an unsupervised manner have been created for the most important variables identified by the random forest classifier during TD and TS events to highlight the difference in geophysical and aerosol variables' climatology during the two different classifications. This work will advance the risk management strategies for northeastern Australia and other SWPO basin islands to control their tropical cyclone related losses through prioritizing forecasting variables that are the strongest predictors of the strengthening of tropical depressions into tropical cyclones.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Phase Development in a U-7 wt.% Mo vs. Al-7 wt.% Ge Diffusion Couple

Fuel development for the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) program has demonstrated that U-Mo alloys in contact with Al develop interaction regions with phases that have poor irradiation behavior. The addition of Si to the Al has been considered with positive results. Compositional modification to replace Si with Ge is now under evaluation to attempt to further improve irradiation behavior. In this study, the microstructural and phase development of a diffusion couple of U-7 wt.% Mo in contact with Al-7 wt.% Ge was examined by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The interdiffusion zone developed a microstructure that included the cubic-UGe3 phase and amorphous phases. The UGe3 phase was observed with and without Mo and Al solid solutioning developing a (U,Mo)(Al,Ge)3 phase.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cynipid wasps systematically reprogram host metabolism and restructure cell walls in developing galls

Many insects have evolved the ability to manipulate plant growth to generate extraordinary structures called galls, in which insect larva can develop while being sheltered and feeding on the plant. In particular, cynipid (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) wasps have evolved to form morphologically complex galls and generate an astonishing array of gall shapes, colors, and sizes. However, the biochemical basis underlying these remarkable cellular and developmental transformations remains poorly understood. A key determinant in plant cellular development is cell wall deposition that dictates the physical form and physiological function of newly developing cells, tissues, and organs. However, it is unclear to what degree cell walls are restructured to initiate and support the formation of new gall tissue. Here, we characterize the molecular alterations underlying gall development using a combination of metabolomic, histological, and biochemical techniques to elucidate how valley oak (Quercus lobata) leaf cells are reprogrammed to form galls. Strikingly, gall development involves an exceptionally coordinated spatial deposition of lignin and xylan to form de novo gall vasculature. Our results highlight how cynipid wasps can radically change the metabolite profile and restructure the cell wall to enable the formation of galls, providing insights into the mechanism of gall induction and the extent to which plants can be entirely reprogrammed to form unique structures and organs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Providing a Flexible and Comprehensive Software Stack Via Spack, an Extreme-Scale Scientific Software Stack, and Software Development Kits

To manage the complex demands of modern high-performance computing (HPC), software applications increasingly depend on software developed by other teams, often at other institutions. An HPC software ecosystem approach is required to support dependencies on third-party scientific software. An ecosystem approach provides layers of activity above the individual software product level that promote interoperability, quality improvement, porting, testing, and deployment. The U.S. Exascale Computing Project (ECP) developed its HPC software ecosystem using a three-pronged approach. First, the ECP adopted and invested in Spack, a package manager designed to handle complex HPC package dependencies. Second, the ECP created the Extreme Scale Scientific Software Stack, an effort that supports developing, deploying, and running scientific applications on HPC platforms. Third, the ECP supported software product communities, or software development kits, to develop and promote best practices, improve software interoperability, and other collaborative efforts. This article describes ECP contributions to HPC software ecosystem challenges.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ecovoltaic solar energy development can promote grassland bird communities

Ecologically informed photovoltaic (PV) developments that co-prioritize PV electricity generation with ecosystem function (‘ecovoltaics’) have emerged as a promising land sharing strategy to minimize ecological conflicts associated with PV solar energy development. While habitat-focused ecovoltaic designs can conceptually benefit biodiversity by offsetting or enhancing impacts of PV development, foundational field research is needed to examine how wildlife respond to these novel ecosystems. We conducted passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) in 2023 and 2024 at 13 solar facilities and paired control sites to investigate avian community responses to ecovoltaic facilities in the Midwestern United States. Compared to control sites (row crop agricultural fields), we found that ecovoltaic sites supported more grassland bird species throughout a 17-week monitoring period between May and September. Grassland bird communities on ecovoltaic sites were also more stable than on agricultural controls, as measured by the Jaccard dissimilarity index. We also used PAM-based weekly species occurrences in an occupancy-modelling framework to investigate the influence of PV development and other landscape variables on grassland bird occupancy. 10 out of 13 modelled grassland bird species had greater predicted occupancy probabilities (ψ) on PV sites than control sites. Synthesis and applications. Our findings suggest that properly sited and developed ecovoltaic solar facilities in human altered landscapes can improve habitat for birds and other wildlife, but further research is needed to understand which species may benefit most from these novel ecosystems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Scenario development for safety assessment in deep geologic disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel: A review

Radiation and radioactive substances result in the production of radioactive wastes which require safe management and disposal to avoid risks to human health and the environment. To ensure permanent safe disposal, the performance of a deep geological repository for radioactive waste is assessed against internationally agreed risk-based standards. Assessing postclosure safety of the future system's evolution includes screening of features, events, and processes (FEPs) relevant to the situation, their subsequent development into scenarios, and finally the development and execution of safety assessment (SA) models. Global FEP catalogs describe important natural and man-made repository system features and identify events and processes that may affect these features into the future. By combining FEPs, many of which are uncertain, different possible future system evolution scenarios are derived. Repository licensing should consider both the reference or “base” evolution as well as alternative futures that may lead to radiation release, pollution, or exposures. Scenarios are used to derive and consider both base and alternative evolutions, often through production of scenario-specific SA models and the recombination of their results into an assessment of the risk of harm. Furthermore, while the FEP-based scenario development process outlined here has evolved somewhat since its development in the 1980s, the fundamental ideas remain unchanged. A spectrum of common approaches is given here (e.g., bottom–up vs. top–down scenario development, probabilistic vs. bounding handling of uncertainty), related to how individual numerical models for possible futures are converted into a determination as to whether the system is safe (i.e., how aleatoric uncertainty and scenarios are integrated through bounding or Monte Carlo approaches).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

Remote-sensing application for facilitating land resource assessment and monitoring for utility-scale solar energy development

A monitoring plan that incorporates regional datasets and integrates cost-effective data collection methods is necessary to sustain the long-term environmental monitoring of utility-scale solar energy development in expansive, environmentally sensitive desert environments. Using very high spatial resolution (VHSR; 15 cm) multispectral imagery collected in November 2012 and January 2014, an image processing routine was developed to characterize ephemeral streams, vegetation, and land surface in the southwestern United States where increased utility-scale solar development is anticipated. In addition to knowledge about desert landscapes, the methodology integrates existing spectral indices and transformation (e.g., visible atmospherically resistant index and principal components); a newly developed index, erosion resistance index (ERI); and digital terrain and surface models, all of which were derived from a common VHSR image. The methodology identified fine-scale ephemeral streams with greater detail than the National Hydrography Dataset and accurately estimated vegetation distribution and fractional cover of various surface types. The ERI classified surface types that have a range of erosive potentials. The remote-sensing methodology could ultimately reduce uncertainty and monitoring costs for all stakeholders by providing a cost-effective monitoring approach that accurately characterizes the land resources at potential development sites.

Desert regions↗
DOE OSTI2012

A World-Class University-Industry Consortium for Wind Energy Research, Education, and Workforce Development (Final Technical Report)

During the two-year project period, the consortium members have developed control algorithms for enhancing the reliability of wind turbine components. The consortium members have developed advanced operation and planning tools for accommodating the high penetration of variable wind energy. The consortium members have developed extensive education and research programs for educating the stakeholders on critical issues related to the wind energy research and development. In summary, The Consortium procured one utility-grade wind unit and two small wind units. Specifically, the Consortium procured a 1.5MW GE wind unit by working with the world leading wind energy developer, Invenergy, which is headquartered in Chicago, in September 2010.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

SPSP Phase III Recruiting, Selecting, and Developing Secure Power Systems Professionals: Behavioral Interview Guidelines by Job Roles

The Secure Power Systems Professional Phase III final report was released last year which an appendix of Behavioral Interview Guidelines by Job Roles. This new report is that appendix broken out as a standalone document to assist utilities in recruiting and developing Secure Power Systems Professionals at their site. The complete list of knowledge, skills, and abilities required in each of the studied job roles was assembled into the Behavioral Interview Guidelines. The guidelines were developed to apply the results of Phases I and II in a format that can be used in part or in whole to align workforce capabilities with the strategic goals and tactical focus of a power grid organization. These guidelines may 1) be applied to develop performance reviews or to produce individual professional development programs for existing staff; 2) assist in specifying learning objectives for a training or education program; and 3) be easily incorporated into most human capital software to facilitate development of job descriptions that comply with guidelines established by the Society of Human Resource Management. The guidelines can be immediately applied by human resources professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers to assist in recruiting and interviewing candidates for new SPSP position openings.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development Plan for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Process

The Advanced Fuel Campaign (AFC) in Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) has tasks of near term Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) for light water reactor (LWR) and long term advanced reactor fuel research and development. Mixed Oxide (MOX) is one of the options for the advanced reactor fuel and development plan for the fabrication and characterization of MOX is described. The efforts will include the confirmation of the MOX fabrication capability and development of processing parameters for the stable fabrication of MOX fuel to support future MOX work if the need arises from the program. Establishing a robust fabrication process of desired stoichiometry utilizing the fabrication equipment recently added to Fuel Manufacturing Facility (FMF) glove box sintering furnace would be the main goal of the development.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗