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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 847 records · Page 47

HTGR Simulation Methods & International Collaborations

ART-GCR “Methods” activity is split between Experimental Validation data from the ANL NSTF and OSU HTTF (next three presentations). HTGR core simulation (this presentation). International collaboration within OECD Generation-IV (Gen-IV) and USA/Japan bi-lateral agreements (this presentation) HTGR Simulation Methods No new NE-52 funding for HTGR Methods support in FY20; ~$200K FY19 carry-over funds only. Consists of international code-to-code benchmarks (IAEA CRP on HTGR UAM and OECD/NEA MHTGR-350) and refinement of a few-group Pebble Bed Reactor (PBR) cross section (XS) generation methodology. Funding will be requested in FY21 to produce the final reports for the two benchmarks and continue the development of the PBR XS generation methodology. Additional (non-ART) HTGR-related support work at INL NEAMS: HTR-Application work package at INL Create a benchmark for the pebble shuffling and depletion algorithms being developed for NEAMS Griffin code. iFOA award with X-Energy: Develop independent Monte Carlo model of Xe-100 design. Independent design confirmatory analysis of Xe-100 design using NEAMS tools Griffin and Pronghorn. Support X-Energy design team to use their own legacy design tools (VSOP99 and MGT). Support NEAMS Griffin and Pronghorn development team for the iFOA needs (received $50K additional funding for required development).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Easy and Enticing: How a Collaborative Approach to Emerging Technology Adoption in the Commercial Building Sector Has Made Its Mark

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with interested partners (e.g., applicable trade groups), initiated a novel market transformation approach, technology adoption campaigns, to speed the adoption of new technologies that save energy and money in buildings—first with lighting and later with other building technologies. This approach couples technical performance evaluation, guidance, data tracking and technical assistance with recognition for exemplary performance and best practices. Campaigns can be designed around emerging technologies that have significant, cost-effective national energy savings potential and where there is strong public- and private-sector interest in sharing performance criteria and outcomes. Participants in the campaigns share project data with the national laboratories and DOE, benefit from technical support and assistance from objective experts, and highly value recognition for their accomplishments. DOE and its campaign partners benefit from accelerated adoption of new energy-saving technologies and engagement with manufacturers and end users that allows for data collection and insights into technology research needs. This paper documents the success, challenges, lessons learned, and energy and cost savings of lighting campaigns, and in many cases compares these findings with other campaign efforts. This paper also presents recommendations for how other programs of various sizes can employ this model.

Myer, Michael↗

Collaborative RFID reader using code divisional multiple access (CDMA) and methods for same

The present disclosure provides collaborative radiofrequency identification (RFID) readers that employ code division multiple access (CDMA) encoding to simultaneously broadcast to and read responses from tags in an overlapping reading zone with improved data synchronization and read yield rates. In some embodiments, a harmonic backscattering scheme is used to enable the system to have a much higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity, while the reader CDMA protocol can be integrated with an initial TDMA polling process or alternative tag CDMA scheme.

Kan, Edwin C.↗

Internal Collaboration on Recent Nuclear Criticality Safety Assessments

Prevention of inadvertent criticality at facilities with large quantities of fissionable materials is one of the most important requirements those facilities grapple with. Given that criticality cannot be mitigated, only eliminated, a hard line must be taken on this requirement. The facilities and sites with the possibility of such an event must abide by a plethora of requirements, most stemming from the ANSI/ANS-8 series of consensus standards. One such standard, ANSI/ANS-8.19, Administrative Practices for Nuclear Criticality Safety, gives requirements and recommendations necessary for establishing a nuclear criticality safety program for a given facility or site. One of those requirements includes periodic assessments of the NCS program. To meet the assessment requirement, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) conducts periodic assessments on individual facilities and overall programmatic health aspects. The teams developed to perform these assessments include people both inside and outside the LANL NCS program. Recently, the Nuclear Criticality Safety Division and the Critical Experiments Team of the Advanced Nuclear Technology Group established a collaboration to aid in fulfilling the assessment requirement.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Understanding Resilience Valuation for Energy Systems: An Overview of the NREL-NYSERDA Research Collaboration

Energy resilience has become a national priority as Americans experience more power outages attributed to climate change, extreme weather, and cyber events. Energy system owners and operators recognize that they must prepare differently for outages today than they did in the past. Decision makers at all levels face unique challenges and opportunities in effectively and equitably executing a transition to more resilient power systems. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recently added resilience to its mission statement. The authority engaged with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in a collaborative effort to: 1) understand options for measuring and valuing resilience investment benefits, and 2) inform how resilience could be operationalized across NYSERDA initiatives and program areas.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Collaborative Proposal: Improving Understanding of the Internal Structure and Dynamics of Deep Convection Using ARM Observations and Large Eddy Simulations (Final progress report)

This is the final technical report for the DOE Atmospheric System Research funded project entitled "Collaborative Proposal: Improving Understanding of the Internal Structure and Dynamics of Deep Convection Using ARM Observations and Large Eddy Simulations". This project addressed several science questions related to the structure and behavior of deep convective clouds in the atmosphere. It applied knowledge gained from this work to improve the deep cumulus convection parameterization in the Community Earth System Model (CESM). Specific outcomes related to the project include an improved understanding of: (1) how convective cloud environments regulate the size of thermals reaching the upper troposphere, and hence the shallow-to-deep convective transition; (2) the role of dynamic pressure forcing in thermal and convective cloud evolution; and (3) the role of vertical wind shear on the behavior of moist thermals and the transition from shallow to deep convection. Although the primary motivation of this project was to improve basic understanding of thermal dynamics in atmospheric convection, an important component of this work was using this improved understanding to modify the representation of entrainment and vertical velocity profiles in the Zhang-McFarlane cumulus parameterization used in CESM. This work also had a strong observational component, with analyses of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) observations to characterize thermal characteristics and behavior. Observations collected during the ARM-supported CACTI field project were used with high-resolution simulations to explore environmental controls on deep convection initiation. Data from the ARM-supported MC3E field project were also used to evaluate the representation of updraft vertical velocities in the Zhang-McFarlane cumulus parameterization. This project directly supported the training of two post-doctoral researchers and led to 16 peer-reviewed published papers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Savannah River National Laboratory Collaborative Innovation Pilot Team - 17560

The Collaborative Innovation (COIN) program was established by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in March 2016. The goal of the SRNL COIN program is to identify innovative options to significantly reduce program and project risks (improve safety, reduce schedule and cost) of high priority Department of Energy Environmental Management, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Nuclear Energy missions. The COIN Advisory Board selected as the target outcome of the first COIN effort a 50% improvement to the Savannah River Site (SRS) H-Canyon spent nuclear fuel (SNF) processing 'baseline,' or current plan, as defined in the SRS Nuclear Materials Planning Roadmap. A small team of SRNL and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions personnel with pertinent experience and expertise was co-located and largely sequestered for eight weeks to identify improvements to H-Canyon processing of SNF. Following the process defined in the SRNL COIN Charter, the COIN Pilot Team analyzed the baseline for processing SNF through H Canyon; generated alternative ideas; tested seemingly viable ideas by reaching out to other subject-matter experts; and identified options for consideration for implementation by the COIN Advisory Board. The COIN Pilot produced a number of important outcomes, including important lessons learned for subsequent COIN efforts. The two principal outcomes are these: 1. The COIN Pilot Team conducted a comprehensive examination of the individual unit operations, the integrated system, and external interfaces to produce a timeline of H-Canyon processing and sampling times that had not previously existed. The general timeline served as the baseline from which the Pilot Team identified processing improvements. In addition, the timeline has already been employed in other planning efforts. 2. The COIN Pilot Team determined that innovations to the H-Canyon Dissolving unit operation alone could increase the number of SNF bundles processed through H Canyon by the target of 50%, but with little margin for error. To ensure that the gains in throughput in the Dissolving unit operation would be maintained throughout the facility, the Pilot Team identified four additional improvements to create greater efficiency and flexibility in downstream H-Canyon unit operations. The COIN Pilot Team's innovations reduce the processing time of a single batch of SNF through H Canyon from about 70 days to about 50 days. This talk will review the COIN process and the results of the pilot of the process. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Collaborative working is driving progress in hazard and risk reduction delivery at Sellafield - 16387

A new way of working has been adopted at the Sellafield site in the United Kingdom which is delivering benefits in terms of accelerating hazard and risk reduction safely and securely at the site. This new way of working involves a collaborative approach on crucial aspects of the plan of work for Sellafield between: - Sellafield Ltd (the site's management and operations contractor), - The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (the site's owner and Sellafield Ltd's customer), - The Office for Nuclear Regulation (the UK's nuclear safety and security regulator), - The Environment Agency (England's environmental regulator), - The UK Government's Department of Energy and Climate Change, - The UK Government's Shareholder Executive, part of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The new way of working is founded upon fully aligning the individual strategies of each of these six organisations towards the common goal of accelerated risk and hazard reduction and then ensuring good communications so these strategies remain fully aligned. To this end a number of issues were identified by the six organisations which were considered to be slowing the progress of the risk and hazard reduction work, from which a set of 'strategic themes' was developed to facilitate different ways of thinking and so solve these issues. The strategic themes are: - Looking for blockers and how they can be removed, - Avoiding overly complex solutions by utilising the concept of fit for purpose, - The effective use of resources, - Prioritisation arrangements, - Incentivisation, - The appetite for risk, - Avoiding distractions and diversions, - Effective use of communications so that the more effective and efficient ways of working, and the improvements that are generated, are promulgated throughout Sellafield Ltd. These strategic themes have been applied with great effect in a number of areas delivering risk reduction benefits. For example: - The removal of ageing fuel from Sellafield's oldest pond, the Pile Fuel Storage Pond; a significant milestone in the site's hazard and risk reduction agenda. - Implementing an alternative ILW approach. - Managing stocks of Highly Active Liquor (HAL). - 'Re-purposing' existing Waste Management Facilities. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Collaborative Robots vs. Master/Slaves - 19522

This paper will discuss the feasibility, application, and economy of applying collaborative robots (co-bots) in lieu of traditional through-the-wall tele-operated manipulator systems, traditionally used within hazardous (radioactive) environments. Both fixed facility and mobile applications will be discussed. Both single- and dual-armed co-bot systems will be employed. The six-axis, plus gripper, single-armed co-bots will provide for machine vision enhanced pick-n-place applications within shielded rooms and also include force-reflecting (haptic) teleoperations controls for non-routine materials-handling operations. The dual-armed system will be mounted to a motorized stand with motorized adjustment both vertically and rotationally (around its base). To complement these co-bots, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional vision technologies will be implemented. The vision technologies, in these applications, are used in lieu of traditional radiation shielding windows. two-dimensional video systems will provide for large area viewing, incorporating pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities. Three-dimensional video systems will be mounted to the dual-armed robot stand and provide viewing, including depth-of-perception, to the operator, performing material handling and other tasks, from an operator workstation located outside the hazardous environment. The unique workstation used with the dual-armed systems will also be described. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Collaboration for the Management of the Bruce Power Major Component Replacement (MCR) Nuclear Waste - 19630

Bruce Power's Major Component Replacement (MCR) Program will generate large volume waste via steam generators (SGs) and intermediate-level nuclear waste, which will require specialized packaging and handling to safely receive and store it at Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF). The refurbishment of a Candu reactor involves, in part, the removal and replacement of all of a reactor core's fuel channel assemblies. Bruce Power and OPG collaborated to develop nuclear waste management solutions to optimize the use of OPG's existing Steam Generator Storage Building (SGSB) and Retube Component Storage Building (RCSB). By designing specialized Retube Waste Containers (RWCs) and optimizing configurations for the waste to be stored in the buildings, we will reduce the interim nuclear waste storage needs at the OPG WWMF, while improving Bruce Power MCR process efficiencies and reducing the overall costs of the MCR Program (Units 3 through 8). (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Design of water-moderated heterogeneous cores in new STACY facility through JAEA/IRSN collaboration - 14363

In the post-Fukushima prospect, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, JAEA, intends to re-open its Static Experiment Critical Facility STACY, in order to contribute to the validation of fuel debris calculations in conditions close to those affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. The reactor core of STACY is being modified by JAEA from homogeneous solution fuel core to heterogeneous pin- type fuel core. The first step of critical experiments is to establish reference experiments involving lattices of UO{sub 2} rods without fuel debris. A design of such experiments is in progress for the widest range of moderation ratios in the frame of JAEA/IRSN collaboration. To anticipate the specification values of materials to be manufactured (grids, rods), an evaluation of uncertainties pertaining to the different parameters driving k{sub eff} is paramount. The following uncertainties of experimental cores are evaluated to estimate the reactivity effect of engineering tolerance/or measurements of the modified STACY: (1) Density of fuel pellets, (2) Enrichment of uranium, (3) Diameter of fuel pellets, (4) Thickness of fuel claddings, (5) Impurities of fuel pellets, (6) Impurities of fuel claddings and (7) Positioning of fuel rods in the lattice. For these calculations, three types of moderation conditions were considered within the experimental parameters of STACY: the lowest moderation (lattice pitch = 1.15 cm; V{sub m}/V{sub f}=1.2), optimum moderation (lattice pitch = 1.5 cm, V{sub m}/V{sub f} = 2.9) and an over moderated case (lattice pitch = 2.55 cm; V{sub m}/V{sub f} = 11). The calculations to derive the overall uncertainty of modified STACY were performed propagating the 1σ uncertainties of parameters of existing STACY in terms of k{sub eff}. For that purpose, a perturbation calculation (differential operator) technique and a stochastic geometry modeling technique were used with the MCNP5 continuous energy Monte Carlo code and a point-wise cross section library based on the JENDL-4.0 evaluated nuclear data library. Moreover, the results of calculations were compared with those calculated by two continuous energy Monte Carlo codes using the correlated sampling technique: - An experimental version of the Japanese MVP2 code combined to the JENDL-4.0 nuclear data library, - The MORET 5 code, developed by IRSN, combined to the JEFF-3.1 nuclear data library. The proposed paper discusses all the aforementioned issues, and confirms that the uncertainty pertaining to the critical experiments of the STACY is sufficiently small. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Offshore Wind to Hydrogen - Modeling, Analysis, Testing and International Collaboration Work

This project explores electrolytic hydrogen production from an offshore wind turbine by: Modeling: Simulate an offshore wind turbine and generate power output profiles; Analysis: Analyze offshore conditions and determine operational modes of the stack; Testing: Perform hardware testing to evaluate dynamic characteristics; and International Collaboration Work: Share learnings and publish. Potential Outcomes: Accelerate development of an integrated, in-turbine offshore wind hydrogen system; and Support two DOE Energy Earthshots - Hydrogen and Floating Offshore Wind.

electrolyzer↗

WIP: Collaborating to Introduce Second-Life Battery Technology Research in an Informal STEM Learning Environment

This work in progress, innovative practice, paper outlines an interdisciplinary collaborative model utilized by a team of educational researchers, and engineers to design a series of community-centered, place-based learning activities suitable for a middle or high school informal STEM learning environment. Based on the potential applications and benefits of Second-Life Electric Vehicle Batteries, the activities connect cutting-edge STEM research with multidimensional real-world challenges within their communities related to climate change, renewable energy integration and storage, intelligent transportation systems, and optimized energy management, that empowers students to think critically about the role they can play in shaping a more resilient, environmentally sustainable community.

Whiteside, Hope↗

Collaborative RFID reader using code divisional multiple access (CDMA) and methods for same

The present disclosure provides collaborative radiofrequency identification (RFID) readers that employ code division multiple access (CDMA) encoding to simultaneously broadcast to and read responses from tags in an overlapping reading zone with improved data synchronization and read yield rates. In some embodiments, a harmonic backscattering scheme is used to enable the system to have a much higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity, while the reader CDMA protocol can be integrated with an initial TDMA polling process or alternative tag CDMA scheme.

Kan, Edwin C.↗