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Technology Benefit Estimator (T/BEST): User's Manual

The Technology Benefit Estimator (T/BEST) system is a formal method to assess advanced technologies and quantify the benefit contributions for prioritization. T/BEST may be used to provide guidelines to identify and prioritize high payoff research areas, help manage research and limited resources, show the link between advanced concepts and the bottom line, i.e., accrued benefit and value, and to communicate credibly the benefits of research. The T/BEST software computer program is specifically designed to estimating benefits, and benefit sensitivities, of introducing new technologies into existing propulsion systems. Key engine cycle, structural, fluid, mission and cost analysis modules are used to provide a framework for interfacing with advanced technologies. An open-ended, modular approach is used to allow for modification and addition of both key and advanced technology modules. T/BEST has a hierarchical framework that yields varying levels of benefit estimation accuracy that are dependent on the degree of input detail available. This hierarchical feature permits rapid estimation of technology benefits even when the technology is at the conceptual stage. As knowledge of the technology details increases the accuracy of the benefit analysis increases. Included in T/BEST's framework are correlations developed from a statistical data base that is relied upon if there is insufficient information given in a particular area, e.g., fuel capacity or aircraft landing weight. Statistical predictions are not required if these data are specified in the mission requirements. The engine cycle, structural fluid, cost, noise, and emissions analyses interact with the default or user material and component libraries to yield estimates of specific global benefits: range, speed, thrust, capacity, component life, noise, emissions, specific fuel consumption, component and engine weights, pre-certification test, mission performance engine cost, direct operating cost, life cycle cost, manufacturing cost, development cost, risk, and development time. Currently, T/BEST operates on stand-alone or networked workstations, and uses a UNIX shell or script to control the operation of interfaced FORTRAN based analyses. T/BEST's interface structure works equally well with non-FORTRAN or mixed software analysis. This interface structure is designed to maintain the integrity of the expert's analyses by interfacing with expert's existing input and output files. Parameter input and output data (e.g., number of blades, hub diameters, etc.) are passed via T/BEST's neutral file, while copious data (e.g., finite element models, profiles, etc.) are passed via file pointers that point to the expert's analyses output files. In order to make the communications between the T/BEST's neutral file and attached analyses codes simple, only two software commands, PUT and GET, are required. This simplicity permits easy access to all input and output variables contained within the neutral file. Both public domain and proprietary analyses codes may be attached with a minimal amount of effort, while maintaining full data and analysis integrity, and security. T/BESt's sotware framework, status, beginner-to-expert operation, interface architecture, analysis module addition, and key analysis modules are discussed. Representative examples of T/BEST benefit analyses are shown.

Generazio, Edward R.↗

Comprehensive Solutions for Integration of Solar Resources into Grid Operations

The need for proactive closed-loop integration of uncertainty information into system operations and probability-based controls is widely recognized, but rarely implemented in system operations. Proactive integration for this project means that the information concerning expected uncertainty ranges for net load and balancing requirements, including required balancing capacity, ramping and ramp duration characteristics, will be fed back into the generation commitment and dispatch algorithms to modify their performance so that potential shortages of these characteristics can be prevented. This basic, yet important, premise is the motivating factor for this project. The achieved project goal is to demonstrate the benefit of such a system. The project quantifies future uncertainties, predicts additional system balancing needs including the prediction intervals for capacity and ramping requirements of future dispatch intervals, evaluates the impacts of uncertainties on transmission including the risk of overloads and voltage problems, and explores opportunities for intra-hour generation adjustments helping to provide more flexibility for system operators. The resulting benefits culminate in more reliable grid operation in the face of increased system uncertainty and variability caused by solar power. The project identifies that solar power does not require special separate penetration level restrictions or penalization for its intermittency. Ultimately, the collective consideration of all sources of intermittency distributed over a wide area unified with the comprehensive evaluation of various elements of balancing process, i.e. capacity, ramping, and energy requirements, help system operators more robustly and effectively balance generation against load and interchange. This project showed that doing so can facilitate more solar and other renewable resources on the grid without compromising reliability and control performance. Efforts during the project included developing and integrating advanced probabilistic solar forecasts, including distributed PV forecasts, into closed –loop decision making processes. Additionally, new uncertainty quantifications methods and tools for the direct integration of uncertainty and variability information into grid operations at the transmission and distribution levels were developed and tested. During Phase 1, project work focused heavily on the design, development and demonstration of a set of processes and tools that could reliably and efficiently incorporate solar power into California’s grid operations. In Phase 2, connectivity between the ramping analysis tools and market applications software were completed, multiple dispatch scenarios demonstrated a successful reduction of overall uncertainty and an analysis to quantify increases in system operator reliability, and the transmission and distribution system uncertainty prediction tool was introduced to system operation engineers in a live webinar. The project met its goals, the experiments prove the advancements to methods and tools, when working together, are beneficial to not only the California Independent System Operator, but the benefits are transferable to other system operators in the United States.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Final Report to the National Energy Technology Laboratory on FY14- FY15 Cooperative Research with the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions

The Power System Engineering Research Center (PSERC) engages in technological, market, and policy research for an efficient, secure, resilient, adaptable, and economic U.S. electric power system. PSERC, as a founding partner of the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS), conducted a multi-year program of research for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) to develop new methods, tools, and technologies to protect and enhance the reliability and efficiency of the U.S. electric power system as competitive electricity market structures evolve, and as the grid moves toward wide-scale use of decentralized generation (such as renewable energy sources) and demand-response programs. Phase I of OE’s funding for PSERC, under cooperative agreement DE-FC26-09NT43321, started in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and ended in FY2013. It was administered by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) through a cooperative agreement with Arizona State University (ASU). ASU provided sub-awards to the participating PSERC universities. This document is PSERC’s final report to NETL on the activities for OE, conducted through CERTS, from September 2015 through September 2017 utilizing FY 2014 to FY 2015 funding under cooperative agreement DE-OE0000670. PSERC is a thirteen-university consortium with over 30 industry members. Since 1996, PSERC has been engaged in research and education efforts with the mission of “empowering minds to engineer the future electric energy system.” Its work is focused on achieving: • An efficient, secure, resilient, adaptable, and economic electric power infrastructure serving society • A new generation of educated technical professionals in electric power • Knowledgeable decision-makers on critical energy policy issues • Sustained, quality university programs in electric power engineering. PSERC core research is funded by industry, with a budget supporting approximately 30 principal investigators and some 70 graduate students and other researchers. Its researchers are multi-disciplinary, conducting research in three principal areas: power systems, power markets and policy, and transmission and distribution technologies. The research is collaborative; each project involves researchers typically at two universities working with industry advisors who have expressed interest in the project. Examples of topics for recent PSERC research projects include grid integration of renewables and energy storage, new tools for taking advantage of increased penetration of real-time system measurements, advanced system protection methods to maintain grid reliability, and risk and reliability assessment of increasingly complex cyber-enabled power systems. A PSERC’s objective is to proactively address the technical and policy challenges of U.S. electric power systems. To achieve this objective, PSERC works with CERTS to conduct technical research on advanced applications and investigate the design of fair and transparent electricity markets; these research topics align with CERTS research areas 1 and 2: Real-time Grid Reliability Management (Area 1), and Reliability and Markets (Area 2). The CERTS research areas overlap with the PSERC research stems: Power Systems, Power Markets, and Transmission and Distribution Technologies, as described on the PSERC website (see http://www.pserc.org/research/research_program.aspx). The performers were with Arizona State University (ASU), Cornell University (CU), University of California at Berkeley (UCB), and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). PSERC research activities in the area of reliability and markets focused on electric market and power policy analyses. The resulting studies suggest ways to frame best practices using organized markets for managing U.S. grid assets reliably and to identify highest priority areas for improvement. PSERC research activities in the area of advanced applications focused on mid- to long-term software research and development, with anticipated outcomes that move innovative ideas toward real-world application. Under the CERTS research area of Real-time Grid Reliability Management, PSERC has been focused on Advanced Applications Research and Development (AARD), a subgroup of activities that works to develop advanced applications and tools to more effectively operate the electricity delivery system, by enabling advanced analysis, visualization, monitoring and alarming, and decision support capabilities for grid operators.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Enhancing Cloud Cybersecurity: Prescriptive Controls for Operational Technology

This whitepaper provides strategic insights and recommendations into security cloud-based solutions for electric utilities, encompassing operational technology (OT), virtual power plants (VPP), distributed energy resources (DERs), applications, networks, and data storage as they transition to and leverage cloud infrastructure through managed service providers (MSPs) and cloud service providers (CSPs). Principles derived from established frameworks serve as a foundation for best practices across cybersecurity projects and remove the constraints of settling on a single framework. For organizations that prefer not to integrate a specific framework altogether, elements of the proposed approach could be adopted or tailored to best fit defined requirements and expected functionalities. The Cirrus assessment, a utility cloud feasibility tool, and the roadmap it provides serve as a precursor to this paper, which seeks to be a valuable resource for defining next steps following cloud technology integration feasibility appraisal. With its comprehensive approach to adoption, the Cirrus framework offers strategic guidance on responsibly preparing for or deploying a utility cloud solution. The previously published whitepaper, “Use Case-Informed Framework for Utility Cloud Migration,” details the guiding strategy, research, and deployment of cloud solutions within electric and interconnected grid systems. Before implementing the controls suggested in this document, it is recommended that stakeholders complete Cirrus's cloud integration assessment and pair the results with their unique cybersecurity controls to form a comprehensive cloud-based utility cybersecurity plan. The Cirrus outcome will consider a series of future architectures for the grid before and after the energy transition and evaluate the arguments for and against cloud applications for each electric and interconnected grid layer. This document is a companion to the original whitepaper, "Use Case-Informed Framework for Utility Cloud Migration" to further identify and recommend security controls based on Cirrus’s cloud integration assessment output. The following whitepaper outlines the cybersecurity controls that secure cloud-service models pertinent to the electric sector using the predefined categories identify, protect, detect, and respond and recover. The objective is to outline prescriptive security controls based on the type of architecture and data stored in the cloud. The focus includes dissecting the shared responsibility model and elucidating what on-premises Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) entail. A pivotal consideration in this context is allocating responsibility for foundational cybersecurity aspects—having used Cirrus for the cloud integration assessment. The ensuing controls detailed herein also represent a checklist of controls necessary for a secure cloud transition, equipping utilities with the knowledge to navigate this digital transformation with confidence and strategic foresight in a safe and responsible manner.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Summary of Technical Peer Review on the Risk Assessment Framework proposed in Report INL/RPT-22-68656 for Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems

This report summarizes the peer review activities initiated by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during fiscal year (FY) 2023 for the evaluation and improvement of the methodology developed under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a technical basis to support effective and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. A framework was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk-informed capability to quantitatively and accurately estimate the risk impact of plant modernization, considering the introduction of high safety-significant safety-related (HSSSR) DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing risk-informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of HSSSR DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. The R&D efforts of this project from FY 2019 through FY 2022 were focused on methodology improvement and demonstration of the proposed framework for the risk assessment and design optimization of safety-critical DI&C systems. Collaborations with the nuclear industry have been initiated to support the reliability and risk assessment of their DI&C systems by using the proposed framework. In FY 2023, the framework has reached to a point for a technical peer review and obtain stakeholder feedback. This peer review activity includes coordination of the reviews performed by a group of industry stakeholders, documentation of the peer review suggestions, providing resolutions and responses to the peer review comments. The objective of this technical peer review is to obtain representative feedback on the proposed framework to improve the technical qualities of its methodology and readiness for deployment to the industry. Feedback may identify potential areas for improvement and further development. The Subject Matter experts were invited to review the latest project report documenting the methodology developed in the project and provide evaluations of the technical qualities of the proposed framework and relevant methods. The reviewed project report is “An Integrated Framework for Risk Assessment of High Safety-significant Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants: Methodology and Demonstration” INL/RPT-22-68656 (short as “INL/RPT-22-68656” in this report). This peer review report documents the technical questions provided for technical peer review and introduces the technical peer reviewers from the stakeholders including nuclear utilities, regulators, and universities. Comments from technical peer reviewers and the resolutions and responses to these comments are outlined. Insights and lessons learned from the technical peer review are summarized in conclusions and future work. The primary audience of this report are DI&C designers, engineers, and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) practitioners. This includes stakeholders, such as the nuclear utilities and regulators who consider the deployment and upgrade of DI&C systems, DI&C software developers and reviewers, and cybersecurity specialists.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Sensor Network Demonstration for In Situ Decommissioning - 13332

Florida International University's (FIU's) Applied Research Center is currently supporting the Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Management Office of D and D and Facility Engineering program. FIU is supporting DOE's initiative to improve safety, reduce technical risks, and limit uncertainty within D and D operations by identifying technologies suitable to meet specific facility D and D requirements, assessing the readiness of those technologies for field deployment, and conducting feasibility studies and large scale demonstrations of promising technologies. During FY11, FIU collaborated with Savannah River National Laboratory in the development of an experimental test site for the demonstration of multiple sensor systems for potential use in the in situ decommissioning process. In situ decommissioning is a process in which the above ground portion of a facility is dismantled and removed, and the underground portion is filled with a cementious material such as grout. In such a scenario, the question remains on how to effectively monitor the structural health of the grout (cracking, flexing, and sinking), as well as track possible migration of contaminants within and out of the grouted monolith. The right types of sensors can aid personnel in better understanding the conditions within the entombed structure. Without sensors embedded in and around the monolith, it will be very difficult to estimate structural integrity and contaminant transport. Yet, to fully utilize the appropriate sensors and the provided data, their performance and reliability must be evaluated outside a laboratory setting. To this end, a large scale experimental setup and demonstration was conducted at FIU. In order to evaluate a large suite of sensor systems, FIU personnel designed and purchased a pre-cast concrete open-top cube, which served as a mock-up of an in situ DOE decommissioned facility. The inside of the cube measures 10 ft x 10 ft x 8 ft. In order to ensure that the individual sensors would be immobilized during the grout pouring activities, a set of nine sensor racks were designed. The 270 sensors provided by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Mississippi State University (MSU), University of Houston (UH), and University of South Carolina (USC) were secured to these racks based on predetermined locations. Once sensor racks were installed inside the test cube, connected and debugged, approximately 32 cubic yards of special grout material was used to entomb the sensors. MSU provided and demonstrated four types of fiber loop ring-down (FLR) sensors for detection of water, temperature, cracks, and movement of fluids. INL provided and demonstrated time differenced 3D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), advanced tensiometers for moisture content, and thermocouples for temperature measurements. University of Houston provided smart aggregate (SA) sensors, which detect crack severity and water presence. An additional UH sensor system demonstrated was a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) fiber optic system measuring strain, presence of water, and temperature. USC provided a system which measured acoustic emissions during cracking, as well as temperature and pH sensors. All systems were connected to a Sensor Remote Access System (SRAS) data networking and collection system designed, developed and provided by FIU. The purpose of SRAS was to collect and allow download of the raw sensor data from all the sensor system, as well as allow upload of the processed data and any analysis reports and graphs. All this information was made available to the research teams via the Deactivation and Decommissioning Knowledge Management and Information Tool (D and D KM-IT). As a current research effort, FIU is performing an energy analysis, and transferring several sensor systems to a Photovoltaic (PV) System to continuously monitor energy consumption parameters and overall power demands. Also, One final component of this research is focusing on developing an integrated data network to capture, log and analyze sensor system data in near real time from a single interface. FIU personnel and DOE Fellows monitored the progress and condition of the sensors for a period of six months. During this time, the sensors recorded data pertaining to strain, compression, temperature, crack detection, moisture presence, fluid mobility, shock resistance, monolith movement, and electrical resistivity. In addition, FIU regularly observed the curing process of the grout and documented the cube condition via the nine racks of sensors. The sensors held up throughout the curing process, withstood the natural elements for six months, and monitored the integrity of the grout. The large scale experiment and demonstration conducted at FIU was the first of its kind to demonstrate the feasibility of state of the art sensors for in situ decommissioning applications. These efforts successfully measured the durability, performance, and precision of the sensors in question as well as monitored and recorded the curing process of the selected grout material under natural environmental conditions. The current energy analysis work is resulting in data on the constraints placed by some of the sensor systems on a power network that requires high reliability and low losses. In addition, a sensor system demonstration has determined that it is feasible to develop an integrated data network where data can be accessed in near real-time from all systems, thereby allowing for larger-scale integrated system testing to be performed. Information collected during the execution of this research project will aid decision makers in the identification of sensors to be used in nuclear facilities selected for in situ decommissioning. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Utilizing FLEX Equipment for O&M Cost Reduction in Nuclear Power Plants

There are many ways of reducing the O&M costs; this work presents an innovative framework of reducing O&M costs by utilizing the onsite Flex equipment at NPPs. Flex strategies were postulated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the wake of Fukushima Dai-ichi accident to address beyond-design-basis accidents and improve plant flexibility. Onsite Flex includes equipment such as portable pumps, generators, batteries, compressors, and other supporting equipment or tools, all stored in a dedicated and secure building designed to withstand external hazards. In the past years, several NPPs have invested in procuring and maintaining the onsite Flex asset that stands unutilized most of the time. Recently there have been active efforts to develop strategies through which NPPs can take credit for the Flex equipment. This work focuses on identifying areas where Flex equipment can be utilized during normal plant operation and develop a framework that would aide in reduction of O&M costs without impacting plant safety. Earlier work in the current project, published in INL/EXT 18 51531, had presented the risk- and cost-analysis framework for utilizing FLEX portable equipment during technical specification required shutdown due to component failure. The licensee event report (LER) database of the NRC shows that the commercial NPPs in the US reported 86 technical specification required shutdowns since year 2010. When a component failure or unavailability leads to a technical specification required shutdown, the NPPs suffers both direct costs in terms of loss of revenue arising from the loss of generation and indirect costs in form of reporting and inspection required by the NRC. The earlier work developed the following framework and implemented it on a demonstration probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model to utilize the portable Flex equipment when a component failure could potentially lead to a technical specification required shutdown: 1. Identify the components, the failure or unavailability of which would result in a 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(i)A-reportability requirement, postulated by the NRC for technical specification required shutdown to be reported in NRC’s LER database. 2. Identify the Flex equipment that can be utilized as a standby to the failed component. 3. Develop a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model that incorporates the Flex equipment within the current plant PRA model. 4. Perform PRA calculations to determine change in core damage frequency and change in risk-informed allowable outage time. 5. Perform cost-benefit analysis to determine the economic feasibility of implementing the Flex equipment The current work, presented in this report, implement the above framework in a plant PRA model obtained from a US commercial nuclear power plant by prestaging onsite FLEX equipment as a redundancy to the existing auxiliary feedwater system, and pre-coordinating with offsite FLEX centers. The new configuration increased the allowable outage time by about a fifty percent overall for the diesel generator being out of service. The benefits to NPPs of utilizing the Flex equipment during normal operations, and performing the PRA developed in this work, include: 1. A risk-informed plant shutdown alternative to the current technical specification required shutdown. 2. Extension of allowable outage time to initiate technical specification required shutdown. 3. Reducing economic impact of component failure, avoiding plant shutdown, and maximizing generation. 4. Save the direct and indirect costs associated with technical specification required shutdown.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Development of F and B Operation Strategy with LPSI and H-SIT

In the current nuclear power plants (NPPs), most of the critical safety functions are provided by many active safety systems. However, in order to meet the futuristic goals of safety, relying on these active safety systems alone does not seem to be viable. As passive system has a strength on the mitigation of station black out accident and it also contributes to increase the diversity of mitigation way, application of passive system becomes a paramount in the nuclear industry to enhance the nuclear plant safety. Recently, many researches for developing passive systems and operation strategies have been carried out in the nuclear field. General passive systems and strategies, however, have a critical limitation, especially for passive injection systems. As these systems use gravity as their driving force, it is difficult to inject coolant in a passive way in a high-pressure condition thus depressurization has to be preferentially performed to do passive injection. The problem is that depressurization inevitably causes the loss of core inventory thus it is not preferred in order to secure plant safety. Hybrid safety injection tank (H-SIT) system was newly suggested a few years ago to passively inject the coolant into the reactor coolant system (RCS) without depressurization in a high-pressure condition. The H-SIT system is planned to be integrated into advanced power reactor plus (APR+). Generally, the H-SIT system can inject water using the pressure from nitrogen gas as a conventional safety-injection tank in low-pressure accidents, such as large and medium-break loss of coolant accidents (LOCA). Additionally, the H-SIT system can also inject water using gravitational force in high-pressure accidents. If a high pressure accident occurs, the pressure of each H-SIT is equalized with pressure of pressurizer through equalizing pipes, thus allowing the H-SITs to inject water by gravitational force. In the target plant, four H-SITs are planned to be installed. Each has a 2.5 in diameter equalizing pipe and it can be operated manually. Long-term cooling of core is an ultimate goal of all mitigation actions for plant safety and feed and bleed (F and B) operation strategy is one of the long-term cooling strategies in conventional pressurized water reactor (PWR). The important point of F and B operation is that injection for feed operation is performed by only high pressure safety injection (HPSI) pump because operation of low pressure safety injection (LPSI) pump needs the depressurization and it causes core dry out. As H-SIT is passively operated in an accident situation, it was originally designed for mitigation of station black out accident. Besides, operator can use the H-SIT system same as high pressure injection pump in any accident situations. Thus, function of high pressure injection by H-SIT can be used for feed operation when HPSI pumps fail. If it is possible, H-SIT can make up the core during depressurization then LPSI pumps can be used for F and B operation. In this study, F and B operation strategy with LPSI and HSIT is developed. This is a new concept for the long-term cooling operation. If this strategy is applied, low pressure injection pump can be successfully used for F and B operation thus operator has the additional mitigation way. As this strategy make plant safe even though HPSI and PAFS are both failed, it can effectively enhance the plant safety. For this strategy two RCGVSs and two POSRVs are needed as a depressurization system for bleed operation and only one LPSI is enough for feed operation. H-SIT operation is also needed to make up core inventory during bleed operation. For this operation, four H-SITs have to be used to make up core safely. Based on the risk analysis using PSA method, if this strategy is applied, core damage frequency is 1.868 e-6 which declined 7 percent from original model. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗