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DOE OSTI2020

Nondestructive Evaluation of Concrete within Nuclear Applications

Structural defects that develop over the lifetime of nuclear power plants (NPPs) could threaten the safety and security of the concrete infrastructure. Developing a reliable nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method to evaluate the damage in NPPs and their associated structures will greatly improve the long-term operation and safety of NPPs. The purpose of the US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability program is to develop technologies and other solutions that can improve the reliability, sustain the safety, and extend the operating lifetimes of NPPs beyond 60 years. This report describes the progress made toward growing NDE capabilities for NPPs. It also documents expanded collaborations with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and future opportunities to collaborate with industry partners (i.e., vendors and utilities) and university partners. These collaborations will continue to stand as a framework to provide value to stakeholders by reducing uncertainties and potential delayed maintenance costs in NPPs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of Hybrid FPOG Applications in Regulated and Deregulated Markets Using HERON

Recent changes in the U.S. energy market, such as low natural gas prices and increased electricity production for variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, have led to an economic crisis for existing light-water reactor (LWR) nuclear power plants (NPP). Many owners and operators of LWRs have elected to decommission these plants rather than continue using them as consistent sources of clean baseload power. This has led to exploration of various possibilities to increase the economic viability of these units, including market restructuring to monetize benefits LWRs already provide to the grid through ancillary markets, load following and economic dispatch, and possible integration of secondary systems directly to the NPP for production of additional products through technologies such as hydrogen electrolysis or water desalination. Previous studies have considered the technologies associated with these Integrated Energy Systems (IES) activities, and the analysis of markets for these secondary products. To analyze the economic viability of various system configurations including IES, especially given the uncertainty surrounding load demand, electricity prices, and the availability of VRE resources, the stochastic technoeconomic analysis package HERON (Heuristic Energy Resource Optimization Network) was released earlier this year as an extension of the risk analysis framework RAVEN (Risk Analysis Virtual Environment). HERON focuses foremost on making the complex uncertainty quantification analysis tools approachable for energy systems analysts, also providing general dispatch optimization algorithms for those workflows. HERON continues to be improved and tested as a significant part of the IES viability analyses performed in this work. HERON is not a capacity expansion model. To consider market and grid energy system development in a variety of scenarios, HERON is best used in coupling with modelling tools such as US-REGEN, which sacrifice some of the uncertainty analysis and resolution of HERON's modelling for the ability to efficiently predict the change in the grid energy system's profile due to economic drivers over decades. HERON can then use this information to explore the economic viability of introducing changes to the predicted outcomes, such as the introduction of an IES. In this work, experts at EPRI using US-REGEN provide six projection scenarios for use in HERON stochastic technoeconomic analysis (STEA) in considering the options available for increasing LWR economic viability through introduction of a hydrogen-centric IES using a high-temperature steam electrolysis plant (HTSE), hydrogen storage, and a constant-rate contracted hydrogen consumer. The results obtained are differential in nature; they do not report expected profits for any configuration, but rather report on the possible increase in the NPV of a configuration with respect to a baseline no-IES configuration. Due to the uncertainty captured in the variable net load of the systems, there is likewise uncertainty in the mean values reported. We consider this viability both in terms of a regulated market, where the energy producers and IES are owned and operated by single entity, as well as a deregulated market, where the IES chooses its bid for electricity generation and is then dispatched by the grid system operator. Results indicate that for deregulated markets, the inclusion of the IES is often statistically beneficial. This is especially true in policies that are not favorable towards nuclear, as nuclear is less often dispatched and is forced to deal with frequent idle capacity. In the nominal case as well as the case of carbon tax policies, inclusion of the IES clearly benefited the economic performance of the NPP. In the regulated case, however, there was a trend towards minimizing the IES, likely due to the optimal sizing performed by US-REGEN of the NPP within the system as well as the lack of penalty for idle capacity at the NPP in the regulated market analyses.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Intermediate-Term Thermal Aging Effect Evaluation for Grade 92 and 316L at The LWR Relevant Temperature

Life extension of the existing nuclear reactors imposes accumulated damages, such as higher fluences and longer period of corrosion, to structural materials, which would result in significant challenges to the traditional reactor materials such as type 304 and 316 stainless steels. Advanced alloys with superior radiation resistance will increase safety margins, design flexibility, and economics for not only the life extension of the existing fleet but also new builds with advanced reactor designs. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) teamed up with Department of Energy (DOE) on the Advanced Radiation Resistant Materials (ARRM) program, aiming to develop and test degradation resistant alloys from current commercial alloy specifications by 2021 to a new advanced alloy with superior degradation resistance in light water reactor (LWR)-relevant environments by 2024. Based on a comprehensive microstructure and property screening performed in Phase-1 of the ARRM program, a total of five alloys, together with 316L and X-750 as references, were down-selected for Phase-2 neutron irradiation studies. Because thermal aging could exert a synergistic effect on neutron irradiation due to the low neutron damage rate on the order of 10 –7 displacements per atom per second (dpa/s), Grade 92 (one of the five down-selected alloys) and two heats of 316L were selected in this task to study the effect of aging at 350°C for 12.5–12.7 kh on microstructure and mechanical properties. The aging time is approximately corresponding to 5 dpa neutron irradiation, which can be served as a reference for the 5-dpa-irradiated samples of the alloys to help understand the independent neutron damage influence on microstructure and mechanical properties. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used for microstructural characterization. Hardness, tensile, Charpy impact toughness, and fracture toughness in the ductile regime of the aged samples were examined. The aging of Grade 92 led to the formation of many Laves phase in sizes of ~100–200 nm and resulted in some reduction in hardness and yield/ultimate tensile strength with some increases in uniform and total plastic elongations, which may have helped the enhancement of Charpy impact toughness, e.g., ~4 J increase in upper-shelf energy and 20.5°C reduction in ductile-brittle transition temperature compared with the unaged condition. The fracture toughness of the aged Grade 92 showed decent toughness of ~303 MPa√m (K Jq ) with ~87 tearing modulus at 22°C, which reduced to ~241 MPa√m (~20% reduction) with ~75 tearing modulus at 300°C. The two heats of 316L are differentiated by their amounts of δ-ferrite, i.e., ~1 vol% in heat T1103 and ~4 vol% in heat N5B8. The two heats of 316L were subjected to 15% cold work (CW) as this condition is often used in nuclear reactors to help trapping radiation-induced defects and thus postpone the steady state swelling stage. The aging did not result in any noticeable microstructure changes, except for possible segregations at grain boundaries that need to be further investigated. The aging resulted in slight reduction in hardness of 316L-T1103 and slight increase in hardness of 316L-N5B8, which is consistent with their tensile testing results. The 15%CW might have introduced some inhomogeneity, resulting in large standard deviations in hardness, which were reduced after the aging. The aged 316L followed the same trend as the unaged condition for the strength and elongation results from the tensile testing. Minimum elongations appeared within ~300–600°C, above which the elongations seem to increase. Unlike the negligible or minor changes in microstructure, hardness and tensile results of the two heats of 316L, their fracture toughness showed noticeable difference. The aged 316L-T1103 showed good toughness of ~350 MPa√m with ~80 tearing modulus at 22°C, which reduced to ~271 MPa√m (~23% reduction) with ~83 tearing modulus at 300°C. In contrast, the aged 316L-N5B8 showed lower toughness of ~244 MPa√m with ~53 tearing modulus at 22°C, which reduced to ~180 MPa√m (~26% reduction) with ~31 tearing modulus at 300°C. The preliminary results indicate that the presence of high volume of δ-ferrite would noticeable impair fracture toughness although it may not influence hardness and tensile properties.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Separating Nuclear Reactors from the Power Block with Heat Storage: A New Power Plant Design Paradigm

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducted a workshop on Separating Nuclear Reactors from the Power Block with Heat Storage: A New Power Plant Design Paradigm. The workshop was held as three webinars (July 29, August 12 and August 26, 2020). These proceedings include this abstract, an executive summary, the main report and presentations. There are two reasons to consider a new design paradigm. First, the market is changing with (1) the addition of variable wind and solar that results in highly volatile electricity prices and (2) the goal of a low-carbon economy that requires (a) economic dispatchable electricity that is now provided by natural gas turbines in the United States and (b) heat for industry and commerce. Second, nuclear plant requirements have changed in the last 50 years suggesting that a lower-cost plant layout may be to separate the nuclear island from the power block with a clear separation of the nuclear island with nuclear requirements and the power block built to industrial standards.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Report on the Use and Function of the Integrated Operations Capability Analysis Platform (ICAP) and the LWRS Innovation Portal (IP)

The commercial nuclear power industry has achieved excellent safety and reliability performance but is struggling to survive in an electricity market that is increasingly dominated by subsidized renewables and cheap natural gas. These challenges have forced utilities to explore previously uncharted avenues to drastically reduce the operations and maintenance costs of their plants which are the primary drivers of the total cost to produce electricity. The petrochemical industry faced similar challenges some years ago as the costs of extraction and processing were rising while their reservoirs were being depleted along with a drop-in commodity prices that resulted in unsustainable operations. In this challenging climate, they developed a business model called Integrated Operations (IO) that sought to utilize technology to enable news ways of working through the integration of people, technology, process and governance changes. The Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program, working with IFE have developed an operating model via transferable learnings from the North Sea O&G industry. This framework is termed “Integrated Operations for Nuclear” (ION). ION is a transformation model that integrates the benefits and features of four principal factors: People, Technology, Process and Governance. The purpose of this report is to describe how to generate an ION business process analysis and utilize this information to reduce O&M costs. In order to make this job easier, DOE LWRS has created a suite of tools that will allow a person who is involved in a transformation effort at their company to build a solid documented business case for embarking on a major transformation effort. These tools, the Integrated Operations Capability Analysis Model (ICAP) and the LWRS Innovation Portal (IP) are described herein with instructions on their use. Instructions on how the interface with the EPRI Business Case Analysis Method (BCAM) are also provided.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

PACT Data Management Plan (V.1.0)

The Perovskite PV Accelerator for Commercial Technology (PACT) is an independent validation center for the evaluation of perovskite PV technologies and their bankability. The center is led by Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and includes as part of its team Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), CFV Labs, Black and Veatch (B&V), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The goals of the center are to: Develop and improve indoor and outdoor performance characterization methods, Develop and validate accelerated qualification testing for early failures (5-10 years), Research degradation and failure modes, Validate outdoor performance, and Provide bankability services to US perovskite PV (PSC) industry. The importance of data and data management to the success and outcomes of the PACT center is paramount. This report describes how data will be managed and protected by PACT and identifies important data management principles that will guide our approach.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Report on High Energy Arcing Fault Experiments: Experimental Results from Low-Voltage Switchgear Enclosures

This report documents an experimental program designed to investigate High Energy Arcing Fault (HEAF) phenomena for low-voltage metal enclosed switchgear containing aluminum conductors. This report covers full-scale laboratory experiments using representative nuclear power plant (NPP) three-phase electrical equipment. Electrical, thermal, and pressure data were recorded for each experiment and documented in this report. This report covers experiments performed on two low-voltage switchgear units with each unit consisting of two vertical sections. The data collected supports characterization of the low-voltage HEAF hazard and these results will be used to support potential improvements in fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods. The experiments were performed at KEMA Labs located in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The experimental design, setup, and execution were completed by staff from the NRC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and KEMA. In addition, representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) observed some of the experimental setup and execution. The HEAF experiments were performed between August 26 and Augsut 29, 2019 on nearidentical Westinghouse Type DS low-voltage metal-enclosed indoor switchgear. The threephase arcing fault was initiated on the aluminum main bus or in select cases on the copper bus stabs near the breaker. These experiments used either nominal 480 volts AC or 600 volts AC. Durations of the experiments ranged from approximately 0.4 s to 8.3 s with fault currents ranging from approximately 9.2 kA to 19.3 kA. Real-time electrical operating conditions, including voltage, current and frequency, were measured during the experiments. Heat fluxes and incident energies were measured with plate thermometers, radiometers, and slug calorimeters at various locations around the electrical enclosures. Environmental measurements of breakdown, conductivity and electromagnetics were also taken. The experiments were documented with normal and high-speed videography, infrared imaging and photography. The results, while limited, indicated the difficulty in maintaining and sustaining low-voltage arcs on aluminum components of sufficient duration and at a single point as observed operating experience.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Report on High Energy Arcing Fault Experiments: Experimental Results from Open Box Enclosures

This report documents an experimental program designed to investigate High Energy Arcing Fault (HEAF) phenomena. The experiments focus on providing data to better characterize the arc to improve the prediction of arc energy emitted during a HEAF event. An open box experiment allow for direct observation of the arc, which allows diagnostic instrumentation to record the phenomenological data needed for better characterization of the arc energy source term. The data collected supports characterization of the arc and arc jet, enclosure breach, material loss, and electrical properties. These results will be used to better characterizing the hazard for improvements in fire probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) realism. The experiments were performed at KEMA Labs located in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The experimental design, setup, and execution were completed by staff from the NRC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and KEMA Labs. In addition, representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) observed some of the experimental setup and execution. The HEAF experiments were performed between August 22, 2020 and September 18, 2020 on near-identical 51 cm (20 in) cube metal boxes suspended from a Unistrut support structure. The three-phase arcing fault was initiated at the ends of the conductors oriented vertically and located at the center of the box. Either aluminum or copper conductors were used for the conductors. The low-voltage experiments used 1 000 volts AC, while the medium-voltage experiments used 6 900 volts AC consistent with other recently completed experiments. Durations of the experiment ranged from 1 s to 5 s with fault currents ranging from 1 kA to 30 kA. Real-time electrical operating conditions, including voltage, current and frequency, were measured during the experiments. Heat fluxes and incident energies were measured with plate thermometers, radiometers, and slug calorimeters at various locations around the electrical enclosures. The experiments were documented with normal and high-speed videography, infrared imaging and photography.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Long-Term Thermal Aging Effect Evaluation for Grade 92 and 316L at The LWR Relevant Temperature

Life extension of the existing nuclear reactors imposes accumulated damages, such as higher fluences and longer periods of corrosion, to structural materials, which would result in significant challenges to the traditional reactor materials such as type 304 and 316 stainless steels. Advanced alloys with superior radiation resistance will increase safety margins, design flexibility, and economics for not only the life extension of the existing fleet but also new builds with advanced reactor designs. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) initiated a collaboration with the Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program on the Advanced Radiation Resistant Materials (ARRM) program, focused on developing and test degradation resistant alloys for light water reactor (LWR)- relevant environments. Based on a comprehensive microstructure and property screening, the ARRM program selected a total of five alloys (i.e., Grade 92, 310, 690, 718A, and 725), together with 316L and X-750 as references, for further investigations.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Report on High Energy Arcing Fault Experiments

This report documents an experimental program designed to investigate High Energy Arcing Fault (HEAF) phenomena for medium voltage electrical switchgear containing aluminum conductors. This report covers full-scale laboratory experiments using representative nuclear power plant (NPP) three-phase electrical equipment. Electrical, thermal, and pressure data were recorded for each experiment and documented in this report. This report covers four of the fourteen planned medium voltage electrical enclosure experiments. Subsequent reports will document the additional experiments performed in the future. The experiments were performed at KEMA Labs located in Chalfont, Pennsylvania. The experimental design, setup, and execution were completed by staff from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and KEMA. In addition, representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) observed some of the experimental setups and execution. The HEAF experiments were performed on four near-identical units of General Electric metal-clad medium voltage switchgear. The three-phase arcing fault was initiated on the primary cable connection bus. All four experiments used the same system voltage (6.9 kV) but varied the current and duration. Real-time electrical operating conditions, including voltage, current and frequency, were measured during the experiments. Heat fluxes and incident energies were measured with plate thermometers and slug calorimeters at various locations around the electrical enclosures. Internal enclosure pressures were measured during the experiments. The experiments were documented with normal and high-speed videography, infrared imaging, and photography. Insights from the experimental series included timing information related to enclosure breach, event progression, mass loss measurements for electrodes and steel enclosures, peak pressure rise, particle analysis, along with visual and thermal imaging data to better understand and characterize the hazard. These results will be used in subsequent efforts to advance the state of knowledge related to HEAF.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Coal Fired Power Plant Configuration and Operation Impact on Plant Effluent Contaminants and Conditions

The primary objective of this project is to characterize coal contaminants in coal-fired power plant wastewater as a function of coal type, unit configurations, and unit operation profile with uncertainty analysis. This project was in response to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solicitation DE-FOA-0001842. The project duration was between September 01, 2018, and December 31, 2021 (no-cost extension filed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, and approved). Field and lab test program was conducted with the main goal to characterize coal contaminants in coal-fired power plant wastewater as a function of coal type, unit configurations, and unit operation profile with uncertainty analysis. In this project, the team of Lehigh University (prime recipient) and Western Kentucky University identified two suitable Thermoelectric Power Plants (TTPs) firing bituminous and sub-bituminous coals respectively, designed test plans, and performed sample collection. Sampling included coal from each TTPs power generation units, Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization (WFGD) slurry material and waste-water samples taken from the outlet of the water treatment tank prior to discharge and other pertinent locations. Coal samples are dried, crushed, and pulverized according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods. The prepared coal samples are analyzed for normal proximate and ultimate analysis tests in addition to the toxic metals and anions according to ASTM methods. The FGD slurry materials are analyzed for toxic metals and anions according to Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methods, as appropriate. The wastewater samples from the water treatment tank outlet are analyzed for toxic metals and anions according to EPA methods. The effluent species analyzed include mercury, arsenic, selenium, nitrate/nitrite, bromide, and chlorine. This project provided results of effluent conditions as a function of coal type, unit configuration, and unit operation profile, and identified the levels of uncertainty in the effluent results.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2022

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Technologies for Advanced Reactors (Workshop Summary Report)

A workshop on artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) for advanced reactors (AR) was held October 5-6, 2021. The workshop was to be attended in-person at ANL but COVID restrictions forced the workshop to go virtual. The objectives of the workshop were to identify the most promising AI/ML opportunities for improving advanced reactor design, optimizing plant performance, and enhancing economic competitiveness and to develop an understanding of the scientific, engineering and licensing challenges facing their application. The workshop planning committee included GAIN, EPRI and NEI and members of three national laboratories (ANL, INL, and ORNL). The workshop was attended by more than 200 individuals representing academic and scientific institutions and the nuclear power industry. The definition put forth for an AI/ML system was one that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of achieving its goals. In this report AI/ML refers to next generation algorithms that include deep learning, statistical analysis and data analytics and associated scientific computing and their potential application to the design, licensing, operation and maintenance of ARs. These methods typically incorporate models built from process data and may also include data generated by simulations that represent the behavior of a system. The workshop was organized in response to the growing interest in application of AI/ML for improving the economic competitiveness of nuclear energy. Increasingly more resources are being allocated to investigating the benefits of AI/ML methods. The DOE created the Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office to promote their development. And within the Office of Nuclear Energy, resources have been allocated to explore and understand the potential benefits of AI/ML. Additionally, the national laboratories are strategically positioned with DOE computing facilities such as Summit, Perlmutter, Aurora and Frontier that support large-scale simulations, hybrid HPC models with AI surrogates, and the exploration of new types of generative models emerging from multi-model data streams and sources. The workshop was organized with members of the AR community to understand the effort and to identify the level of interest and progress in this emerging technology. The workshop discussions focused on identifying opportunities for AI/ML across diverse areas of the nuclear industry and identifying current scientific and engineering challenges for advanced reactors that might be addressed through transformational uses of AI/ML. Discussion panels focused on four high-interest technical domains for advanced reactors: design, maintenance and operations, energy storage, and materials. The results of those discussions are summarized in this report. This includes opportunities that were identified for exploiting AI techniques and methods to improve the efficacy and efficiency of reactor analysis and to improve the operation and optimization of advanced reactors. Advanced reactor developers expressed an interest in learning more about AI/ML methods and their application. This included understanding whether ML methods can provide an advantage over existing nonlinear data regression methods for collapsing high-fidelity simulation results into faster running models. A consensus emerged that AR advances planned for the next decade will benefit from the use of AI/ML tools. The need exists to understand and model complex systems across length scales and modalities. AI/ML is a tool for discovery that can yield a set of engineering principles for use by nuclear engineers, licensing bodies, and operators to solve problems in plant design, safety analyses, autonomous operation, and predictive maintenance. While AI/ML represents a new set of tools, an awareness by the nuclear community of the full potential is still in the early stages so there is a need to increase awareness. It appears that the wide-spread adoption of AI/ML tools for ARs would be facilitated by future educational workshops that describe foundational methods and capabilities and describe successful applications.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of Joint Cyber/Safety Risk in Nuclear Power Systems

This report presents an analysis of the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) for a generic Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)-4 NPP. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) developed Hazards and Consequences Analysis for Digital Systems (HAZCADS) process is applied to the ECCS and its subsystems to identify unsafe control actions (UCAs) which act as possible cyber events of concern. The analysis is performed for two design basis events: Small-break Loss of Coolant Accident (SLOCA) and general transients (TRANS), such as unintended reactor trip. In previous work, HAZCADS UCAs were combined with other cyber-attack analysis to develop a risk-informed approach; however, this was for a single system. This report explores advanced systems engineering modeling approaches to model the interactions between digital assets across multiple systems which may be targeted by cyber adversaries. The complex and interdependent design of digital systems has the potential to introduce emergent cyber properties that are generally not covered by hazard analyses nor formal nuclear Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). The R&D and supporting analysis presented here explores approaches to predict and manage how interdependent system properties effect risk. To show the potential impact of a successful cyber-attack to formal PRA event tree probabilities, HAZCADS analysis was also used. HAZCADS was also used to model the automatic depressurization system (ADS) automatic actuation. This analysis extended to an integrated system analysis for common-cause failure (CCF). In this aspect, the HAZCADS analysis continued by analyzing plant design details for system connectivity in support of critical plant functions. A dependency matrix was developed to depict the integrated functionality of the interconnected systems. Areas of potential CCF are indicated. Future work could include adversary attack development to show how CCF could be caused, resulting in PRA events. Across the multiple systems that comprise the ECCS, the analysis shows that the change in such probabilities was very different between systems. This indicates that some systems have a larger potential risk impact from successful cyber-attack or digital failure, which indicates a need for these systems to have a higher priority for design and defensive measures. Furthermore, we were able to establish that a risk analysis using any arbitrary threat model establishes an ordering of components with regard to cyber-risk. This ordering can be used to influence the overall system design with an eye to lowering risk, or as a way to understand real-time risk to operational systems based on a current threat landscape. Expert knowledge of both the analysis process and the system being analyzed is required to perform a HAZCADS analysis. The need for a tiered risk analysis is demonstrated by the results of this report.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Multiple Stream Low-Cost Recycling Method

The global composite industry generates large quantities of waste and which mostly end as landfill due to lack of meaningful end-use applications for the multiple waste streams. In a recent report by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), waste generated by the wind industry could reach 370,000 tons a year of composite wind energy blades being decommissioned and scrapped. Wind energy is just one major industry utilizing composite materials. The waste generated by industry includes End-of-Life (EoL) materials and manufacturing process scrap. GreenTex Solutions has developed a unique and innovative technology to recycle the composite waste streams in a range of forms made from production waste and EoL materials. This includes manufacturing waste materials such as dry chopped fiber tow, loose fibers, shredded fibers from reinforcement fabrics, cured/semi-cured prepregs, and it also includes fully-cured composite structure waste (such as edge trims from cured parts) from manufacturing aircraft, automobiles, wind blades, boats, and composite cylinders (tanks). Current recycling methods involve recovering the structural fiber by removing the matrix resin through methods such as pyrolysis. The resulting fibers are used in injection molding or wet laid nonwoven mats and other usable forms. The GreenTex technology bypasses these intermediate steps to create the lowest possible recycling processing costs and the lowest embodied energy/CO2 emissions. The end-product from the GreenTex technology is a finished industrial composite part/application versus intermediate fibers or fabrics. The GreenTex manufacturing process enables cross-industry reuse of recycled feedstock by taking waste from multiple industries (wind energy, aerospace, marine, etc.) and recycles the waste into a product used in other industries. The initial target market application is structural flooring for intermodal shipping containers and truck bodies. One of the team’s key partners is Wabash National which produced 29,000 truck bodies in 2019. The current flooring system is comprised of solid oak “butcher board” laminated panels. Additionally, Mediterranean Shipping Containers (MSC) transports over 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units per year in intermodal shipping containers. The current container floor is laminated hardwood that is harvested from the rain forests of Central and South America. The project is to develop a flooring system made from recycled composites that can be qualified for both companies (Wabash and MSC). Initial prototypes validated that the recycled composites panels are lighter and thinner with much higher mechanical strength. These results suggest a typical truck trailer would have 20% lower tare weight. The GreenTex technology is not limited to flooring and is widely applicable to other transportation elements such as walls, roof elements, cab areas and related structural components. Under this project different composite waste streams were evaluated and then combined to develop a formulation that would meet the targeted performance criteria for a flooring system. Wet compression molding was used to fabricate plaques at different tonnage using various composite waste streams. The plaques were tested for flexure and impact.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Deep Learning for Fish Identification from Sonar Data: CRADA 481 [Abstract only]

To help solve the challenges of hydropower energy production related to the potential for eel injury and mortality from passage through hydropower turbines, we will develop a deep learning method for identifying migrating eels from imaging sonar. This project continues with a prior project conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in FY2018-2019. The proposed method employs Convolution Neural Network (CNN), a powerful deep learning method for image classification, to distinguish between images of eels and non-eel moving objects. We propose to collect more laboratory data and add more existing field data to train a powerful deep learning model. In addition to eels and sticks as classified in previous studies, we will add images containing several non-eel fish species and macrophyte mats to the training data. A multi-class classification model will be developed to distinguish these objects. Object detection algorithm will be explored and developed to locate and identify multiple objects in each sonar frame. Motion analysis will be performed to track the movement of objects in sonar video clips. We will also improve the data conversion algorithm so that it can read in both DIDSON and ARIS (both are imaging sonars developed by Sound Metrics Corp) data files and convert them to images with comparably high resolution, regardless of the varying detection ranges in different environments. The developed algorithms will be packaged as a software with a graphic user interface. The software will be evaluated by external collaborators in the field. The developed framework can be generalized for automatic monitoring of fish passage and migration using other imaging sonars like ARIS and will benefit the design and operation of ecologically friendly hydroelectric projects. The developed wavelet and CNN model configuration parameters can potentially be transferred to lamprey detection in similar riverine environments.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Enhanced Control, Optimization, and Integration of Distributed Energy Applications (ECO-IDEA)

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) partnered with Xcel Energy, Schneider Electric, Varentec, and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to meet the goals of the Enabling Extreme Real-Time Grid Integration of Solar Energy (ENERGISE) program. This project developed and validated an innovative data-enhanced hierarchical control architecture that enables the efficient, reliable, resilient, and secure operation of future distribution systems with a high penetration of distributed energy resources like solar energy. The architecture enables a hybrid control approach where a centralized control layer is complemented by distributed control algorithms for solar inverters and autonomous control of grid edge devices. It is fully interoperable and includes all the cybersecurity aspects necessary for reliable and secure system operation. The hybrid approach can seamlessly integrate multiple voltage-regulation technologies, both at central and grid-edge levels, which enables reliable and efficient system operation in the face of unpredictable conditions. The overarching goal of the Eco-Idea project is to develop, validate, and deploy a unique and innovative Data-Enhanced Hierarchical Control (DEHC) architecture that comprehensively addresses the formidable challenges associated with proliferation of high penetration of distributed PV such as reverse power flows, transients from variability of PV systems, feeder load balancing, and voltage stability. These issues are exposing the weaknesses of existing grid operations and controls - including, but not limited to, lack of grid situational awareness, heuristic and slow-acting control actions, latency of control for emergency situations, and points of failure in communications. The proposed architecture will comprehensively resolve the deficiencies of current operational settings - where monitoring and control solutions proposed across industry and academia may not be interoperable and may not coexist in the same system - and will enable an efficient, reliable, resilient, and secure operation of future distribution systems with penetration of solar energy well beyond current limits. The DEHC architecture was developed and validated rigorously through hardware-in-loop simulations in the laboratory environment and deployed on the field.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Front-End Engineering Design Study for Retrofit Post-Combustion Carbon Capture on a Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant

The objective of the project is to conduct a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study to determine the technical and economic feasibility of installing a retrofit, post-combustion, carbon capture facility on a commercially operating, natural gas-fired, combined cycle (NGCC) power plant. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), California Resources Corporation (CRC), and Fluor Corporation used Fluor's Econamine FG Plus SM (EFG+) conducted the FEED study for capturing CO 2 produced by CRC's 550 MWe Elk Hills Power Plant (EHPP), located in the Elk Hills Oil Field near Tupman, Kern County, California. The EHPP was commissioned in 2003 and is powered by two General Electric 7FA gas turbines, with two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) providing steam to a General Electric D11 steam turbine. The target capture amount is 4,000 tonnes CO 2 /day for use in either enhanced oil recovery or dedicated geological saline storage located on CRC property at or nearby EHPP. This CO 2 is captured from a combination of the CO 2 emitted from the flue gas from EHPP and the flue gas generated from a natural gas-fired auxiliary boiler that supplies steam to the EFG+ process.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Valuation of Hydrogen Technology on the Electric Grid Using Production Cost Modeling: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-18-00736

This research project will estimate the value to the United States electric grid of deploying hydrogen technology (such as electrolyzers and hydrogen-fueled generation) under projected conditions of high renewable penetration. The analysis will advance the state of the art in systems-level cost-benefit analysis of hydrogen technology for the electric grid by incorporating production cost modeling results in the analysis. Large-scale grid simulation tools will be used to evaluate total system production cost and grid operation when hydrogen technology is deployed for applications such as energy storage and demand response. Scenarios will include one or more future grid mixes in the Western Interconnect (WI) with a high proportion of intermittent renewables. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will work with four utility companies to refine scenarios. Results of the analysis will include comparing the net cost of hydrogen to other technologies for long duration storage, and of power-to-gas (P2G) scenarios including merchant hydrogen sale and hydrogen-fueled generation.

08 HYDROGEN↗