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At least 847 records · Page 47

Real-time mixed reality display of dual particle radiation detector data

Radiation source localization and characterization are challenging tasks that currently require complex analyses for interpretation. Mixed reality (MR) technologies are at the verge of wide scale adoption and can assist in the visualization of complex data. Herein, we demonstrate real-time visualization of gamma ray and neutron radiation detector data in MR using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 smart glasses, significantly reducing user interpretation burden. Radiation imaging systems typically use double-scatter events of gamma rays or fast neutrons to reconstruct the incidence directional information, thus enabling source localization. The calculated images and estimated ’hot spots’ are then often displayed in 2D angular space projections on screens. By combining a state-of-the-art dual particle imaging system with HoloLens 2, we propose to display the data directly to the user via the head-mounted MR smart glasses, presenting the directional information as an overlay to the user’s 3D visual experience. We describe an open source implementation using efficient data transfer, image calculation, and 3D engine. We thereby demonstrate for the first time a real-time user experience to display fast neutron or gamma ray images from various radioactive sources set around the detector. We also introduce an alternative source search mode for situations of low event rates using a neural network and simulation based training data to provide a fast estimation of the source’s angular direction. Using MR for radiation detection provides a more intuitive perception of radioactivity and can be applied in routine radiation monitoring, education & training, emergency scenarios, or inspections.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Decision support for United States—Canada energy integration is impaired by fragmentary environmental and electricity system modeling capacity

The renewable energy transition is leading to increased electricity trade between the United States and Canada, with Canadian hydropower providing firm lower-carbon power and buffering variability of wind and solar generation in the U.S. However, long-term power purchase agreements and transborder transmission projects are controversial, with two of four proposed transmission lines between Quebec, Canada and the northeast U.S. cancelled since 2018. Here, we argue that controversies are exacerbated by a lack of open-source data and tools to understand tradeoffs of new hydropower generation and transmission infrastructure in comparison to alternatives. This gap includes impacts that incremental transmission and generation projects have on the economics of the entire system, for example, how new transmission projects affect exports to existing markets or incentivize new generation. We identify priority areas for data synthesis and model development, such as integrating linked hydropower and hydrologic interactions in energy system models and openly releasing (by utilities) or back-calculating (by researchers) hydropower generation and operational parameters. Publicly available environmental (e.g. streamflow, precipitation) and techno-economic (e.g. costs, reservoir size,) data can be used to parameterize freely usable and extensible models. Existing models have been calibrated with operational data from Canadian utilities that are not publicly available, limiting the range of scientific and commercial questions these tools have been used to answer and the range of parties that have been involved. Studies conducted using highly resolved, national-scale public data exist in other countries, notably, the United States, and demonstrate how greater transparency and extensibility can drive industry action. Improved data availability in Canada could facilitate approaches that (1) increase participation in decarbonization planning by a broader range of actors; (2) allow independent characterizations of environmental, health, and economic outcomes of interest to the public; and (3) identify decarbonization pathways consistent with community values.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Advances in Machine and Deep Learning for Modeling and Real-time Detection of Multi-Messenger Sources

We live in momentous times. The science community is empowered with an arsenal of cosmic messengers to study the universe in unprecedented detail. Gravitational waves, electromagnetic waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays cover a wide range of wavelengths and timescales. Combining and processing these datasets that vary in volume, speed, and dimensionality requires new modes of instrument coordination, funding, and international collaboration with a specialized human and technological infrastructure. In tandem with the advent of large-scale scientific facilities, the last decade has experienced an unprecedented transformation in computing and signal-processing algorithms. The combination of graphics processing units, deep learning, and the availability of open source, high-quality datasets has powered the rise of artificial intelligence. This digital revolution now powers a multibillion dollar industry, with far-reaching implications in technology and society. In this chapter, we describe pioneering efforts to adapt artificial intelligence algorithms to address computational grand challenges in multi-messenger astrophysics. We review the rapid evolution of these disruptive algorithms, from the first class of algorithms introduced in early 2017 to the sophisticated algorithms that now incorporate domain expertise in their architectural design and optimization schemes. We discuss the importance of scientific visualization and extreme-scale computing in reducing time-to-insight and obtaining new knowledge from the interplay between models and data.

Artificial Intelligence↗

Multi-task Parallelism for Robust Pre-training of Graph Foundation Models on Multi-source, Multi-fidelity Atomistic Modeling Data

Graph foundation models using graph neural networks promise sustainable, efficient atomistic modeling. To tackle challenges of processing multi-source, multi-fidelity data during pre-training, recent studies employ multi-task learning, in which shared message passing layers initially process input atomistic structures regardless of source, then route them to multiple decoding heads that predict data-specific outputs. This approach stabilizes pre-training and enhances a model’s transferability to unexplored chemical regions. Preliminary results on approximately four million structures are encouraging, yet questions remain about generalizability to larger, more diverse datasets and scalability on supercomputers. We propose a multi-task parallelism method that distributes each head across computing resources with GPU acceleration. Implemented in the open-source HydraGNN architecture, our method was trained on over 24 million structures from five datasets and tested on the Perlmutter, Aurora, and Frontier supercomputers, demonstrating efficient scaling on all three highly heterogeneous super-computing architectures.

Lupo Pasini, Massimiliano [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000249↗

Using Convex Optimization to Efficiently Apportion Tracer and Pollutant Sources From Point Concentration Observations

Abstract Rivers transport elements, minerals, chemicals, and pollutants produced in their upstream basins. A sample from a river is a mixture of all of its upstream sources, making it challenging to pinpoint the contribution from each individual source. Here, we show how a nested sample design and convex optimization can be used to efficiently unmix downstream samples of a well‐mixed, conservative tracer in a steady state system into the contributions of their upstream sources. Our approach is significantly faster than previous methods. We represent the river's sub‐catchments, defined by sampling sites, using a directed acyclic graph. This graph is used to build a convex optimization problem which, thanks to its convexity, can be quickly solved to global optimality—in under a second on desktop hardware for data sets of ∼100 samples or fewer. Uncertainties in the upstream predictions can be generated using Monte Carlo resampling. We provide an open‐source implementation of this approach in Python. The inputs required are straightforward: a table containing sample locations and observed tracer concentrations, along with a D8 flow‐direction raster map. As a case study, we use this method to map the elemental geochemistry of sediment sources for rivers draining the Cairngorms mountains, UK. This method could be extended to non‐conservative and non‐steady state tracers. We also show, theoretically, how multiple tracers could be simultaneously inverted to recover upstream run‐off or erosion rates as well as source concentrations. Overall, this approach can provide valuable insights to researchers in various fields, including water quality, geochemical exploration, geochemistry, hydrology, and wastewater epidemiology.

Barnes, Richard↗

Enabling Data Exchange and Data Integration with the Common Information Model: An Introduction for Power Systems Engineers and Application Developers

The Common Information Model (CIM) is an open-source information model that is used to model an electrical network and the various equipment used on the network. CIM is widely used for data exchange of bulk transmission power systems and is finding increasing use for distribution systems. Use of a non-proprietary information model (such as CIM) that has been agreed upon and adopted by numerous utilities, vendors, and researchers allows significant reduction in the effort and cost of data integration. Likewise, adoption of open data platforms built around the CIM increases available functionalities for managing and optimizing the smart grid of the future. This report is intended as an introduction to CIM for utility engineers, power systems researchers, and application developers, providing a broad view of the CIM and how particular profiles can be adapted for various use cases. Unlike most other CIM introduction documents and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards (which are mostly targeted to an audience of data scientists, enterprise database managers, and platform developers), this report is intended for users of traditional power systems analysis software and other readers without any prior experience with canonical information models, data profiles, or UML modeling.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

The Kokkos OpenMPTarget Backend: Implementation and Lessons Learned

As the supercomputing landscape diversifies, solutions such as Kokkos to write vendor agnostic applications and libraries have risen in popularity. Kokkos provides a programming model designed for performance portability, which allows developers to write a single source implementation that can run efficiently on various architectures. At its heart, Kokkos maps parallel algorithms to architecture and vendor specific backends written in lower level programming models such as CUDA and HIP. Another approach to writing vendor agnostic parallel code is using OpenMP’s directives based approach, which lets developers annotate code to express parallelism. It is implemented at the compiler level and is supported by all major high performance computing vendors, as well as the primary Open Source toolchains GNU and LLVM. Since its inception, Kokkos has used OpenMP to parallelize on CPU architectures. In this paper, we explore leveraging OpenMP for a GPU backend and discuss the challenges we encountered when mapping the Kokkos APIs and semantics to OpenMP target constructs. As an exemplar workload we chose a simple conjugate gradient solver for sparse matrices. We find that performance on NVIDIA and AMD GPUs varies widely based on details of the implementation strategy and the chosen compiler. Furthermore, the performance of the OpenMP implementations decreases with increasing complexity of the investigated algorithms.

Gayatri, Rahulkumar↗

Motivation and Design of the OCPP Security Service

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is conducting in-depth research aimed at exploring how zero trust security principles can be effectively applied to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This investigation seeks to enhance the resilience and reliability of these systems against cyber threats, ensuring secure and uninterrupted access to charging services for electric vehicle users and electric supply. Zero trust is a security concept centered on the belief that system operators should not automatically trust users or systems based on their location, whether inside or outside the organization, but instead must verify everything trying to connect to their systems before granting access. A key aspect of the project is to demonstrate and validate zero trust approaches targeted to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. It has been observed that both open-source and commercial solutions often overlook the specific protocols employed in managing EV charging stations and proceeded with a general, protocol-agnostic approach. While these strategies effectively block non-authorized routes to the charging infrastructure, they do not tackle the situations where attackers may exploit legitimate access channels, such as the inattentive operator model posited by the Idaho National Laboratory. To address this gap, this paper proposes and discusses a new security service targeted to the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), which is the de facto protocol for the management of charging stations and serves a critical role in the broader adoption of electric vehicles. The design and architecture of the proposed OCPP security service are discussed in detail, outlining how it aims to safeguard charging station management system (CSMS) functions. The service is particularly important in scenarios where the charging station operator (CSO), responsible for the maintenance and operation of charging stations, and the charging network provider (CNP), which manages the charging network's accessibility and billing, are separate entities. This distinction is crucial because CSOs and CNPs often have different priorities, objectives, and operational responsibilities, which may not always align perfectly. For instance, a CSO might prioritize uptime and customer satisfaction, while a CNP might focus on maximizing revenue and network utilization. Such misalignment can create security vulnerabilities, as each entity might implement different policies and standards, potentially leaving gaps in the overall security posture.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Optimization of Desalination Systems with Detailed Water Chemistry through Integration of Reaktoro in WaterTAP

Chemistry predictions are critical for an accurate estimation of performance and costs in desalination process models, which allows for the estimation of the value of new technologies and the viability of treating new water sources. Herein, we present how an implicit function formulation can be used to integrate the chemical modeling package, Reaktoro, into the techno-economic assessment and modeling platform, WaterTAP. This approach resolves the critical issues of integrating large-scale thermodynamic models and databases into equation-oriented process models while allowing more flexibility relative to previously presented surrogate-based methods. We describe how this integration into Pyomo and WaterTAP models is implemented and used through the open-source package Reaktoro-PSE . We first validate this integration approach by performing optimization on a previously presented desalination treatment train with softening and acid addition as the pretreatment steps. Then, to demonstrate the value of this approach, we extend the cost-optimization problem to include the simultaneous addition of lime and soda ash for softening, and HCl and H 2 SO 4 in the acidification steps. Finally, we were able to confirm the previously established results that were obtained by using surrogate models and demonstrate that the implicit function approach enables exploration of different feedwater compositions and a larger number of chemicals and their combinations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A Privacy-Preserving Cyber Threat Intelligence Sharing System

Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is a key resource for developing defensive strategies against potential cyber adversaries. Entities typically access CTI through open-source platforms, national agencies, or specialized commercial services. However, the bi-directional exchange of CTI is hindered by organizational trust boundaries, which complicate the sharing processes between entities and CTI providers. Centralized CTI services benefit from receiving suspicious cyber observables such as IP addresses, domain names, and email addresses from various entities. The aggregation allows for the correlation of widespread adversarial activities to enhance the alert and response mechanisms across the network of involved parties. Despite these benefits, openly sharing such observables incurs potential legal, regulatory, and reputational risks for the disclosing entities.This paper introduces a system designed to facilitate the secure exchange of cyber observables across trust boundaries without compromising the anonymity of the sharing entities. Here, we propose an architecture that leverages common web protocols alongside zero-knowledge proofs to authenticate members while maintaining anonymity. Additionally, we outline a privacy model tailored for STIX (Structured Threat Information eXpression) cyber observables to minimize the risk of inadvertently disclosing private information. Through our threat models, we assess the privacy implications of our proposed system and demonstrate its potential to enhance collaborative cyber defense efforts without exposing entities to undue risk.

BBS+ Signatures↗

NEAMS Model Contributions in 2023 to the National Reactor Innovation Center Virtual Test Bed for Use by Industry and Other Stakeholders

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Program develops models of advanced reactor phenomena to demonstrate code applicability to challenging physics problems, drive code development through user assessment, and perform code verification and validation. Meanwhile, the U.S. DOE’s National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) hosts an open-source website and associated GitHub repository called the Virtual Test Bed (VTB) on which computational models for advanced reactors are documented and shared with the reactor community. This work documents NEAMS efforts to support industry adoption of advanced modeling tools through contribution of 10 NEAMS models to the NRIC Virtual Test Bed including models for the High Temperature Test Facility (HTTF), TRISO fuel failure in a microreactor, and multiphysics models of a molten chloride fast reactor, among others. The open sharing of these models benefits the reactor community by providing “best practice” examples using NEAMS tools for advanced reactor physics problems. In particular, the HTTF model is being used for code validation and benchmarking activities. The microreactor and molten chloride fast reactor models are representative of analysis that may be useful for current candidates of DOME and LOTUS, NRIC’s physical testbeds. This report summarizes and provides links to these new models, among others.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Analysis of Power Electronic Solutions for Wide-Range Wave Energy Input

Wave energy is a largely untapped energy source with the potential to provide 290 TWh per year to the continental United States. As a new technology, wave energy converters are less efficient and reliable compared to established energy sources, leaving the vast energy of the sea largely unutilized. Wave energy is uniquely inconsistent, with large fluctuations. Paired with harsh operating environments and difficulty in repair, the power electronics designed to harvest wave energy need to be reliable, cost-effective, and able to work in a wide operating band. The literature on existing power electronics in wave energy converters and lessons learned across other industries provide a framework of topologies to simulate. WEC-Sim, an open-source hydrodynamic platform in MATLAB Simulink developed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies, was used to simulate a wide range of power electronics under a variety of wave conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive investigation into existing wave energy power electronics converters, state-of-the-art topologies that can be applied to wave energy, and novel solutions to wave conversion.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Uncertainty analysis of correlated parameters in automated reaction mechanism generation

Abstract Uncertainty analysis is a useful tool for inspecting and improving detailed kinetic mechanisms because it can identify the greatest sources of model output error. Owing to the very nonlinear relationship between kinetic and thermodynamic parameters and computed concentrations, model predictions can be extremely sensitive to uncertainties in some parameters while uncertainties in other parameters can be irrelevant. Error propagation becomes even more convoluted in automatically generated kinetic models, where input uncertainties are correlated through kinetic rate rules and thermodynamic group values. Local and global uncertainty analyses were implemented and used to analyze error propagation in Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG), an open‐source software for generating kinetic models. A framework for automatically assigning parameter uncertainties to estimated thermodynamics and kinetics was created, enabling tracking of correlated uncertainties. Local first‐order uncertainty propagation was implemented using sensitivities computed natively within RMG. Global uncertainty analysis was implemented using adaptive Smolyak pseudospectral approximations as implemented in the MIT Uncertainty Quantification Library to efficiently compute and construct polynomial chaos expansions to approximate the dependence of outputs on a subset of uncertain inputs. Cantera was used as a backend for simulating the reactor system in the global analysis. Analyses were performed for a phenyldodecane pyrolysis model. Local and global methods demonstrated similar trends; however, many uncertainties were significantly overestimated by the local analysis. Both local and global analyses show that correlated uncertainties based on kinetic rate rules and thermochemical groups drastically reduce a model's degrees of freedom and have a large impact on the determination of the most influential input parameters. These results highlight the necessity of incorporating uncertainty analysis in the mechanism generation workflow.

Gao, Connie W.↗

ALTRIOS - Advanced Locomotive Technology and Rail Infrastructure Optimization System

The Advanced Locomotive Technology and Rail Infrastructure Optimization System (ALTRIOS) is a unique, fully integrated, open-source software tool to evaluate strategies for deploying advanced locomotive technologies and associated infrastructure for cost-effective decarbonization. ALTRIOS simulates energy conversion and storage dynamics, locomotive and train dynamics, meet-pass planning (detailed train timetabling), and freight-demand-driven train scheduling in a Pareto optimization. Because new locomotives represent a significant long-term capital investment and new technologies must be thoroughly demonstrated before deployment, this tool provides guidance on the risk/reward tradeoffs of different technology rollout strategies. An open, integrated simulation tool will be invaluable for identifying future research needs and making decisions on technology development, routes, and train selection. ALTRIOS development is a collaboration between NREL, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) RailTEC, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and BNSF.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,MATHEMATICS AND COMPUT↗

ALTRIOS (Advanced Locomotive Technology and Rail Infrastructure Optimization System) [SWR-22-54]

The Advanced Locomotive Technology and Rail Infrastructure Optimization System (ALTRIOS) is a unique, fully integrated, open-source software tool to evaluate strategies for deploying advanced locomotive technologies and associated infrastructure for cost-effective decarbonization. ALTRIOS simulates freight-demand driven train scheduling, mainline meet-pass planning, locomotive dynamics, train dynamics, energy conversion efficiencies, and energy storage dynamics of line-haul train operations. Because new locomotives represent a significant long-term capital investment and new technologies must be thoroughly demonstrated before deployment, this tool provides guidance on the risk/reward tradeoffs of different technology rollout strategies. An open, integrated simulation tool is invaluable for identifying future research needs and making decisions on technology development, routes, and train selection. ALTRIOS was developed as part of a collaborative effort by a team comprising the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and BNSF Railway. Python Package: https://pypi.org/project/altrios/ Rust Crate: https://crates.io/crates/altrios-core

Baker, Chad↗

Exploring Uncertainty in Moment Estimation for Small Earthquakes in Southern Nevada Using the Coda Envelope Method

Compiling source parameter estimates for small earthquakes is important both for our understanding of earthquake physics and for accurately assessing earthquake hazard. Reliable source parameter estimates are difficult to achieve for small earthquakes, in part due to our inability to accurately model the relevant physical processes at high frequencies. The coda envelope methodology developed by Mayeda and Walter (1996) and Mayeda et al. (2003) can mitigate this concern and estimate the moment of small earthquakes by determining the parameters that control the shape of the S-wave coda envelope while eliminating path effects by minimizing the scatter between seismic stations. Here, we use an open-source implementation of this technique called the Coda Calibration Tool (CCT; Barno, 2017) to calculate CCT-based moment magnitude estimates of small earthquakes (M L 0–3) in the Rock Valley, Nevada, region within the Nevada National Security Site. The Rock Valley data set is of particular interest because it allows us to explore the changes in uncertainties of the coda calibration method with earthquake size and depth. We found that a consistent linear relationship exists between the local magnitude M L and our coda-derived M w estimates for earthquakes as small as M L 0–3, but that current CCT workflows do not accurately characterize very shallow events. We also demonstrate that the epistemic uncertainty in the apparent stress value assumed by the CCT algorithm can influence magnitude estimates of small earthquakes. In conclusion, these results provide valuable insight into the seismicity of this region, and inform future analysis and modeling efforts for nuclear monitoring and seismic hazard.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

FENIX: Towards a Fully Integrated Multiphysics Framework for Plasma Facing Component Modeling

Computational tools have a crucial role to play in accelerating the deployment of fusion as a clean, reliable, abundant, and sustainable energy source. Multiphysics, high-fidelity simulation capabilities can help model, study, and predict intricate interactions between materials performance, plasma exposure, neutron irradiation, and engineering processes. As such, they can assist in the resolution of scientific and engineering challenges underpinning design, construction, and commission of fusion power plants. To address these needs, ongoing efforts are leveraging the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework and delivering new computational tools for the fusion community. These tools inherit crucial attributes from MOOSE. They are open-source, modular, integrated with nuclear industry-standard software quality assurance processes, and enable multiphysics, multi-fidelity, fully integrated, zero- to three-dimensional, and massively parallel simulations. After a short overview of these capabilities, we will present the development of Fusion ENergy Integrated multiphys-X (FENIX), a MOOSE-based application designed to enable plasma facing component design and performance evaluation. Throughout their lifetime, plasma facing components are exposed to extreme thermal loads, repeated thermal shocks, and irradiation by plasma ions, neutral particles, and high-energy neutrons. Consequently, designing a plasma facing component with acceptable lifetime degradation is extremely challenging. FENIX aims to model the multiphysics environment in which plasma facing components evolve to accelerate their design studies. To that end, FENIX couples existing MOOSE capabilities such as heat transfer, thermomechanics, and thermal hydraulics, with tritium transport via the MOOSE-based Tritium Migration Analysis Program, Version 8 (TMAP8), with neutronics via the MOOSE-based high-fidelity neutron-photon transport and fluid dynamics code Cardinal, and finally with Particle-in-Cell plasma simulation capabilities being developed in this project. In this study, we present the current FENIX capabilities and preliminary results of its application to model the Tritium Plasma Experiment set up at Idaho National Laboratory.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Characterization and differentiation of aluminum powders used in improvised explosive devices – Part 1: Proof of concept of the utility of particle micromorphometry

Abstract Aluminum (Al) powders are commonly used in improvised explosive devices as metallic fuels, a component of explosive mixtures. These powders can be obtained readily from industrial‐scale and consumer products, and produced using unsophisticated “kitchen chemistry” techniques. This research demonstrates the potential of automated particle micromorphometry for comparisons between known source and questioned Al powders recovered from IEDs, as well as for insight into the method of Al powder manufacture. Al powder samples were obtained from legitimate manufacturers, and 56 samples were produced “in‐house” from Al‐containing spray paints and ball‐milled Al foils. Transmitted light microscope images of Al powder particles were acquired using an automated stage with automated z‐focus; 17 size and shape parameters were measured for all particles. Approximately 37,000–2,500,000 particles/sample were analyzed using an open‐source statistical package with customized code. Dimensionality reduction was required for processing the large datasets: eight of the 17 measured variables were selected based on inspection of the correlation matrix. Data from four subsamples from each of the 56 samples produced using “in‐house” methods were analyzed using ANOVA to assess the within‐ and between‐sample variation. High within‐sample variation was noted; however, ANOVA and post‐hoc Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) tests demonstrated that the between‐sample variation was substantially larger than the within‐sample variation. Each sample could be differentiated from all other samples in the test set. Future experiments will focus on ways to reduce the within‐sample variation, and additional statistical and microanalytical methods to classify sources and confidently constrain the method of Al powder manufacture.

Baldaino, JenaMarie↗