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At least 811 records · Page 45

Idaho National Laboratory Energy Cybersecurity Programs Update

This brief presentation provides a status update on three Idaho National Laboratory energy cybersecurity programs of particular interest to NERC Reliability and Security Technical Committee annual in-person Security Groups summit. Public information on the following three programs is included: Cybersecurity for Operational Technology Environments (CyOTE™) program Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) Cyber Testing for Resilient Industrial Control Systems (CyTRICS) program, and associated high-level information on the Energy Software Bill of Materials POC, Executive Order 14017, and the Energy Cyber Sense Act

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

What Can We Learn from One Billion Ground System Log Messages?

Shortage of log-based data in a ground system they have traditionally been the under achievers in a satellite ground system. This is due to several factors: Once log messages scroll out of view on the TTC event console window they are soon forgotten. Application and system log files are scattered across directories within a system, across a multitude of servers, and across one or more databases making access cumbersome. Typical tools to perform log file content searching are generally crude and typically only employed as part of trouble-shooting exercises.As we move towards satellite constellations and fleets and add even more status information, the number of messages keeps growing. One mission now estimates that they could generate 3,000,000 messages per day 1 billion per year - for the life of their mission. What to do with those 1 billion messages? That is the challenge. With the recent technological advances in the management of large data sets, text-based processing, and data analytics, there are now capabilities that we can provide to the ground system engineers and satellite operators to address what we postulate are missed opportunities. Advanced real-time log analysis can allow us to be less reactionary in favor of being more proactive. Analytics goals include the ability to: Identify root cause of unexpected events, failures or error conditions enabled by correlating disparate data. Detect security breaches attempts before they are successful. Help admins ensure IT resources continue running optimally. Identify trends and patterns that may indicate impending failures or error conditions for valuable assets before they happen. Compare satellites in a fleet or constellation in terms of number of alarms, number of command sent to them, etc.. Answer questions like "Are the operations support needs increasing over the past year?" or "Have we seen this combination of alarm conditions before?" But really, once the tools are readily available the users will start realizing what can be done with their new powers. In this presentation we will show the results of analyzing millions of actual mission operations log messages, how the results can be displayed to the user, and how new products now available as open source can be applied to the challenges of large scale time-tagged text-based mission operations messages. Flight operations team members believe that this is a powerful new option for how they assess overall system and space asset health. Technical descriptions of the design, tools, and storage will be provided. One billion messages? Bring'em on!

Orsborne, Sharon↗

The role of current and emerging technologies in meeting Japan’s mid- to long-term carbon reduction goals

Using Japan as a proxy for a developed nation, we investigated the role of existing and nascent technologies in curbing carbon emissions. We simulated possible pathways to meeting 2030 and 2050 emission targets within the Japanese electricity supply sector using a single-region model in The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System (TIMES). Critically, our simulations incorporate novel technologies like hydrogen electrolysers, carbon capture, photochemical water splitting, and emerging photovoltaic cells, assess long-term impacts up to the year 2100, and include life-cycle emissions and learning curves for parameters such as investment cost, efficiency, and emission coefficients. Results indicate that a hybrid approach, using nuclear power and hydrogen from renewable energy-based electrolysis, is cost-effective and provides long-term emission reduction along with energy security. Finally, nuclear, wind, solar, and hydrogen from renewables emerge as key emission reduction technologies, while natural gas with carbon capture plays a minor role in achieving emission reduction targets.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

A Surrogate-Based Asynchronous Decomposition Technique for Realistic Security-Constrained Optimal Power Flow Problems

Here we present a decomposition approach for obtaining good feasible solutions for the security-constrained, alternating-current, optimal power flow (SC-AC-OPF) problem at an industrial scale and under real-world time and computational limits. The approach was designed while preparing and participating in ARPA-E’s Grid Optimization Competition (GOC) Challenge 1. The challenge focused on a near-real-time version of the SC-AC-OPF problem, where a base operating point is optimized, taking into account possible single-element contingencies, after which the system adapts its operating point following the response of automatic frequency droop controllers and voltage regulators. Our solution approach for this problem relies on state-of-the-art nonlinear programming algorithms, and it employs nonconvex relaxations for complementarity constraints, a specialized two-stage decomposition technique with sparse approximations of recourse terms and contingency ranking and prescreening. The paper describes and justifies our approach and outlines the features of its implementation, including functions and derivatives evaluation, warm-starting strategies, and asynchronous parallelism. We discuss the results of the independent benchmark of our approach by ARPA-E’s GOC team in Challenge 1, where it was found to consistently produce high-quality solutions across a wide range of network sizes and difficulty, and conclude by outlining future extensions of the approach.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

2022 Small Turbine Certification Awardee: NPS Solutions

Inverters convert the direct current power generated by wind turbines into the alternating current needed to serve local loads and feed onto the electricity grid. Although distributed wind systems typically supply electricity for homes and businesses near the turbines, these systems can also provide clean power to strengthen grid resilience. Certification to UL 1741 SA ensures that inverters will enable distributed wind turbines to provide grid support services and stay online when the grid experiences stability issues. Small companies often find the electrical listing process too complex and expensive to undertake on their own, so few distributed wind turbine inverters are certified to this standard. A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) award is helping NPS Solutions (NPS) secure this critical certification for the inverter in its 100-kilowatt NPS 100C wind turbine, which is optimized for on-site generation at farms, businesses, schools, hospitals, and remote locations.

CIP↗

Responsible Adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Electric Grid Operations

The future of the grid will be powered by AI—or undermined by it. Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping grid operations, improving fault detection, forecasting accuracy, and real-time optimization. As AI systems move closer to operational decision loops, however, they introduce new consequence pathways: expanded attack surfaces, model integrity risks, regulatory exposure, and human-automation challenges. This talk presents a consequence-driven framework for deploying AI responsibly in the electric grid. Attendees will gain practical strategies to strengthen resilience, boost reliability, and deploy AI securely — ensuring the grid of the future is not only smarter but safer.

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗

Real-Time Testbed for Smart Grid Recloser Controller

The growing need for a low voltage recloser has become apparent due to the rise in requirements for a smart grid. This includes more detailed management of power flow forward (towards load) and backward (towards generation), source synchronization in real time, more indepth fault responses, and the use of green energy. The SEL-651R-2 relay is a device that can manage these needs, especially in fault response and synchronization, and is commonly used in systems called microgrids. Microgrids are distribution level systems that are able to operate separated from the main grid, are typically installed much closer to the load(s), and are fed by distributed energy resources (DERs), such as wind, solar or diesel generators. The SEL-651R-2 is normally used in the field with presets operative settings, but the Western Michigan University (WMU) Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Secure, Efficient and Sustainable Energy Technology (WMU InterEnergy Center) wished to test this device in its range of capabilities for microgrid application. A Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testbed was implemented and used through the Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) using the RSCAD software to test the SEL-651R-2's use cases and functions. The testbed includes a microgrid with interconnection to a larger main grid, and the relay is meant to control the recloser at the point of common coupling (PCC) between the main grid and microgrid. The testbed shows how basic protections, reclosing, and synchronization checks function when handling faults that affect both the microgrid and the main grid.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

US Department of Energy, Office of Science High Performance Computing Facility Operational Assessment 2019 Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) continues to surpass its operational target goals: supporting users; delivering fast, reliable computational ecosystems; creating innovative solutions for high performance computing (HPC) needs; and managing risks, safety, and security associated with operating some of the most powerful computers in the world. The results can be seen in the cutting-edge science conducted by users and the praise from the research community. Calendar year (CY) 2019 was a big year as OLCF staff ran five world-class resources (the leadershipclass computers Titan and Summit, the large analysis cluster called Eos, and the massive parallel filesystems called Atlas and Alpine)) and also began power and cooling upgrades for a 2021 exascale system called Frontier. While continuing exceptional operation of Titan, Eos, and Rhea, the OLCF released the Summit supercomputer for production on January 1, 2019. Summit debuted as the most capable and efficient system in its class and has been recognized as the most powerful system in the world for its performance on both the high performance linpack (HPL) and conjugate gradient (HPCG) benchmark applications since June 2018 according to TOP500. Summit represents the culmination of a multiyear effort between the OLCF, IBM, NVIDIA, and Mellanox to deliver a system that is unmatched for modeling, simulation, data analysis, and learning. To hit the ground running with science-ready applications on day one, application teams worked closely with the OLCF through the Center for Accelerated Application Readiness (CAAR) program for years in advance of the Summit deployment. CY 2019 was filled with outstanding results and accomplishments: a very high rating from users on overall satisfaction for the sixth year in a row; a tremendous amount of core-hours delivered to researchers from two leadership-class systems; and success in delivering on the allocation split of roughly 60%, 30%, and 10% of core-hours offered for the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE), Advanced Scientific Computing Research Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC), and Director's Discretionary (DD) programs, respectively (see Operational Performance section). These accomplishments, coupled with the high utilization rates (overall and capability usage), represent the fulfillment of the promise of both leadership-class machines: efficient facilitation of leadership-class computational applications. Table ES.1 presents a summary of the 2019 OLCF metric targets and the associated results. More information can be found in the Operational Performance section for each OLCF resource. The scientific accomplishments of OLCF users are a strong indication of long-term operational success, with publications this year in such notable journals and publications as Nature, Nature Physics, Nature Plants, Physical Review X, Journal of the American Physical Society, Cell, Nano Letters, and Trends in Biotechnology. Crucial domain-specific discoveries facilitated by resources at the OLCF are described in the High Performance Computing Facility Operational Assessment 2019 Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OAR) Strategic Results section. For example, researchers used Summit to pinpoint and understand the production of proteins from genetic information, including mutations and the functional expression of disease (Section 8.2).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Annual Stormwater Report for the Y-12 National Security Complex Oak Ridge, Tennessee

This is the ninth annual stormwater report prepared in accordance with the modified National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued to the Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) on April 1, 2014. This modified permit removed the authorization to augment flow in East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) and thus removed the requirement to sample this effluent in conjunction with other major outfalls on EFPC. There are several construction and demolition activities currently in progress at Y-12. These include the construction of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF), the Mercury Treatment Facility (MTF) on EFPC, the site-wide power grid upgrade, construction of an Emergency Operations Center, construction of a new Fire Station, Security Improvement Revitalization Program (SIRP), West End Protection Area Reduction (WEPAR) Project, and the demolition of the Biology Complex. Current stormwater protections have proven effective in 2021. However, moving forward, challenges to protect stormwater will continue from these projects. Therefore, oversight of these activities, and all other construction and demolition projects, will continue to be a priority in 2022. Y-12 will continue to implement appropriate Best Management Practices and reduce outside material storage areas where possible.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

STS-101: Crew Activity Report CAR/Flight Day 04 Highlights

On this fourth day of the STS-101 Atlantis mission, the flight crew, Commander James D. Halsell Jr., Pilot Scott J. Horowitz, and Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, Jeffrey N. Williams, James S. Voss, Susan J. Helms, and Yuri Vladimirovich Usachev are seen performing final preparations for the scheduled space walk. Horowitz, Williams and Voss are seen in the mid-deck before the space walk. Horowitz and Weber are also seen in the flight deck, powering-up the robot-arm. During the space walk Voss is seen checking the American Cargo Crane-Orbital Replacement Unit Transfer Device. Voss and Williams are shown securing the American-built crane that was installed on the station last year. They are seen as they install the final parts (boom extension) of a Russian-built crane on the station. Voss and Williams are also shown as they replace a faulty antenna for one of the station's communications systems on the Unity Module, and install several handrails and a camera cable on the station's exterior.

Source record↗

Tunable stochastic memristors for energy-efficient encryption and computing

Information security and computing, two critical technological challenges for post-digital computation, pose opposing requirements – security (encryption) requires a source of unpredictability, while computing generally requires predictability. Each of these contrasting requirements presently necessitates distinct conventional Si-based hardware units with power-hungry overheads. This work demonstrates Cu 0.3 Te 0.7 /HfO 2 (‘CuTeHO’) ion-migration-driven memristors that satisfy the contrasting requirements. Under specific operating biases, CuTeHO memristors generate truly random and physically unclonable functions, while under other biases, they perform universal Boolean logic. Using these computing primitives, this work experimentally demonstrates a single system that performs cryptographic key generation, universal Boolean logic operations, and encryption/decryption. Circuit-based calculations reveal the energy and latency advantages of the CuTeHO memristors in these operations. This work illustrates the functional flexibility of memristors in implementing operations with varying component-level requirements.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Emerging Energy Market Analysis Initiative, Methodological Framework

Planning and operations of the electric power sector are undergoing radical changes. Climate change mitigation efforts have forced rapid changes to the technology mix. Technologies like wind and solar have experienced rapid growth, while investment in fossil sources has peaked or is declining. These foundational changes are forcing changes to energy systems. Demand-side adoption of electrified technologies, including electric vehicles, is changing load profiles and opening up new avenues for consumer participation in the power systems. The implications of an evolving power system pertain to more than environmental and technical dimensions. Changes to the generation mix and its consequent upstream and downstream impacts such as fuel production have significant and highly concentrated consequences on economies and employment. Shifts towards distributed (or decentralized) generating assets offer the potential to reshape economic and employment opportunities associated with the energy sector across space and socioeconomic groups. The Emerging Energy Market Analysis (EMA) initiative aims to identify sustainable, regionally acceptable, and high-value energy solutions that are secure and equitable. Unlike short-term, least-cost choices that can narrowly account for traditional options, EMA’s focus on emerging energy markets recognizes that new or adapted practices and technologies can alter the frontier of solutions and advance a community’s social, economic, and natural pathways. Such change requires a more comprehensive analysis of societal input, resources, capabilities, and infrastructure. These considerations lay the foundation for community decision-making models that are responsive to community values as well as the history and drivers. The result is a community-based decision and engagement model that will be valuable to decisionmakers and developers of advanced and emerging energy solutions, seeking a social license to operate prior to project development.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Net Zero World Initiative: Accelerating Global Energy System Decarbonization

The United States, partner countries and philanthropies are joining forces to accelerate the transition to clean, secure energy systems and build a Net Zero World. The Net Zero World Initiative leverages expertise across U.S. government agencies and Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, in partnership with other governments and philanthropies, to accelerate the decarbonization of global energy systems. This whole-of-government approach supports countries committed to raising their climate ambitions by creating and implementing highly tailored, actionable technical and investment strategies that put net zero within reach. The Net Zero World Initiative enables country partners to harness the power and technical expertise of U.S. and international industry, think tanks, and universities.

clean energy investment strategies↗

Pillars of Innovation Across Southeast Idaho & the Interstate-15 Corridor

Since 1949, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been home to developing civilian and defense nuclear reactor technologies and managing spent nuclear fuel. Today, INL is the nation’s nuclear energy research laboratory, sustaining the safe and efficient operation of existing reactors, powering science in space, and breaking ground on the future fleet of advanced nuclear reactors. INL is only one of many rising technology resources in the region, however. Along the Interstate 15 (I-15) corridor, technology and cybersecurity industries and intellectual assets are rapidly expanding. Creating an innovation hub in this region would unite capabilities to solve current and future challenges in nuclear reactor sustainment and expanded deployment, integrated fuel cycle solutions, integrated energy systems, advanced materials and manufacturing for extreme environments, and secure and resilient cyber-physical systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

An Evaluation of The Dynamic Physical Security Risk Assessment Methodology for Fleet-Wide Applications

The requirements for U.S. nuclear power plants to maintain a large onsite physical security force contribute to their high operational costs. The cost of maintaining the current physical security posture is approximately 10% of the overall operation and maintenance budget for commercial nuclear power plants. The goal of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program’s physical security pathway is to develop tools, methods, and technologies and provide the technical basis for an optimized physical security posture. The conservatisms built into current security postures may be analyzed and minimized to reduce security costs while still ensuring adequate security and operational safety. The research performed at Idaho National Laboratory within LWRS program’s physical security pathway has successfully developed a dynamic force-on-force modeling framework using various computer simulation tools and integrating them with the dynamic assessment Event Modeling Risk Assessment using Linked Diagrams (EMRALD) tool. This integrated process for physical security analysis is named Modeling and Analysis for Safety Security using Dynamic EMRALD Framework (MASS-DEF). This document provides an update on the progress in applying the MASS-DEF process to an operating commercial nuclear power plant as well as additional industry feedback regarding use of the tool for other physical security risk-informed topics. This report is only a summary of the progress and does not contain specific modeling results as those contain sensitive security information. Previous reports described how a user could integrate their plant-specific force-on-force models with the dynamic simulation tool EMRALD, model operator actions, and integrate with probabilistic risk assessment tools, such as CAFTA (Computer Aided Fault Tree Analysis System) or SAPHIRE (Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations), and with thermal-hydraulic tools, such as RELAP-5 or MAAP. Previous reports applied various combinations of available simulations codes with EMRALD using generic plant models to demonstrate how to perform the analysis. This report is an update the progress of applying the dynamic computational framework to an actual nuclear facility using their security scenarios and timelines. This report also provides an update to the procedural guidance for the MASS-DEF process and an overview of the generic models available for use by utilities. This report does not contain any plant’s sensitive information and/or safeguards information. This study’s purpose was to verify that the results achieved using generic models are similar to actual plant results and refine our guidance on the use of the framework. This assessment enables further analysis, such as what-if scenarios and staff-reduction evaluation, thereby optimizing physical security at plants.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Cyber Resilient Design and Controls for Energy Systems

As the grid of today is evolving into a highly distributed and autonomous cyber-physical system with higher penetration of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and autonomous controls that are dependent on the cyber infrastructure, there are novel and increasing challenges to cyber-resilient operation of the grid. While the traditional mechanisms take a "bolt on" approach to cybersecurity and resiliency, this talk presents two novel technologies developed at NREL that "bake in" security and resilience into the design and control of the grid. An Adaptive Resilience Metrics framework is a novel mechanism for system owners and operators to understand the impact of cyber and physical system design and topology on the resilient operation, while also helping determine optimal policies in response to adverse cyber events. Along with that a zero-knowledge proof-based technique helps incorporate security into the controls layer by focusing on computational integrity rather than data integrity. By leveraging design and control properties unique to Operational Technology systems these technologies will not only help enhance cyber-resilience for the grid of today, but a highly distributed and autonomous grid of tomorrow.

cyber resilience↗

Survey of Cyber Risk Analysis Techniques for Use in the Nuclear Industry

Using traditional probabilistic risk analysis methods for severe accident safety risk management on non-digital systems, structures, and components at nuclear power plants is well-established. In contrast, cyber risk analysis of digital assets is still an immature field with unproven techniques due, in part, to the continuously changing threat environment and the challenge of digital assets failing in unexpected ways. As the nuclear fleet continues to adopt digital instrumentation and control systems, it is increasingly important to have effective and efficient cyber risk analysis techniques to support risk management decisions, such as risk elimination by system redesign or risk mitigation by implementation of prioritized security controls. To understand the state of the art in cyber risk analysis for future research, we surveyed 36 publications across ten application domains. We describe our survey methodology and rate each technique based upon scope, adoptability, and repeatability. In this work, we examine the unique constraints of the nuclear industry and outline the strengths and weaknesses of using the cyber risk analysis techniques in the industry, highlighting gaps with current techniques. We also discuss challenges and potential research directions for advancing the science for both existing and new advanced reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Characterizing Plug Load Energy Use and Savings Potential in Army Buildings

The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) tasked the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to examine plug loads in typical Army buildings. Plug loads (also known as miscellaneous electric loads (MELs)) represent the electricity used by appliances and devices that are plugged in or hardwired and serve functions outside of a building’s core end uses. Common plug loads include computers, printers, copiers, networking devices, refrigerators, and vending machines. They also include personal electronic devices such as televisions, smart phones, tablets, and gaming systems. Examples of hardwired MELs include elevators, air compressors, and fire and security systems. The findings from this study confirm that significant energy is consumed within Army buildings by plug load devices and hardwired MEL equipment. A number of opportunities are identified for reducing unnecessary energy use that could save the Army over $5 million per year when broadly applied. Army regulations clearly spell out expectations for the purchase and operation of information technology equipment (computers, laptops, monitors, printers, and multi-function devices). However, the policies regarding the shutdown or activation of sleep and other lower power modes after 30 minutes of inactivity (15 minutes for monitors) do not appear to be consistently followed. There are many effective approaches and pathways for impacting change as it relates to improving awareness, implementing measures, and adjusting behaviors to identify and reduce plug load energy use. The Army should prioritize and consider deploying all of these to better understand and manage plug load equipment to save energy and enhance resilience across their facilities. Engaging the building occupants who use these devices daily via outreach and education should be a strong component of the strategy. The focus should be on reducing waste without sacrificing productivity or the benefits that many of these devices provide. Continued evaluation of plug loads beyond that performed here is important to gather lessons from additional building and equipment types, and to stay aware of evolving device technology and management options. This will highlight additional needs for policies, best practices, control technologies, and education of personnel to achieve real reductions in energy waste from plug load equipment. It is recommended that this study may serve as the foundation for a broader and sustained focus on plug loads and MELs, towards simultaneously enhancing the productivity, readiness, and resilience of the Army while reducing energy use and demand, and freeing up resources to better support the mission.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗