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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 991 records · Page 55

TU-C-17A-12: Towards a Passively Optimized Phase-Space Monte Carlo (POPMC) Treatment Planning Method: A Proof of Principle

Purpose: The advent of on-line/off-line adaptive, and biologically-conformal radiation therapy has led to a need for treatment planning solutions that utilize voxel-specific penalties, requiring optimization over a large solution space that is performed quickly, and the dose in each voxel calculated accurately. This work proposes a “passive” optimization framework, which is executed concurrently during Monte Carlo dose calculation, evaluating the cost/benefit of each history during transport, and creates a passively optimized fluence map. Methods: The Monte Carlo code Geant4 v9.6 was used for this study. The standard voxel geometry implementation was modified to support the passive optimization framework, with voxel-specific optimization parameters. Dose-benefit functions, which will increase a particle history’s weight upon dose deposition, were defined in a central collection of voxels to effectively create target structures. Histories that deposit energy to voxels are reweighted based on a voxel’s dose multiplied by its cost/benefit value. Upon full termination of each history, the dose contributions of that history are reweighted to reflect a contribution proportional to the history’s final weight. A parallel-planar 1.25 MeV photon fluence is transported through the geometry, and re-weighted at each dose deposition step. The resulting weight is tallied with the incident spatial and directional coordinates in a phase-space distribution. Results: A uniform incident fluence was reweighted during MC dose calculations to create an optimized fluence map which would generate dose profiles in target volumes that exhibit the same dose characteristics as the prescribed optimization parameters. An optimized dose profile, calculated concurrently with the phase-space, reflects the resulting dose distribution. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of passively optimizing an incident fluence map during Monte Carlo dose calculations. The flexibility of the voxel-specific optimization framework allows a variety and combination of optimization parameters to be calculated for each voxel at every transportation step. This work is partially supported by Varian. This work is partially supported by the NIH.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Compliance Monitoring Implementation Plan for 40 CFR §191.14(b), Assurance Requirement (Rev. 7)

This Compliance Monitoring Implementation Plan outlines monitoring activities conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to demonstrate compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disposal regulations at Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 191, "Environmental Protection Standards for Management and Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes," Subparts B and C (EPA 1993); and the EPA criteria for certifying compliance at 40 CFR Part 194, "Criteria for the Certification and Recertification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's Compliance with the Disposal Regulations," Certification Decision, Final Rule (EPA 1998a).

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

PETSc Users Manual: Revision 3.10

This manual describes the use of PETSc for the numerical solution of partial differential equa-tions and related problems on high-performance computers. The Portable, Extensible Toolkit forScientific Computation (PETSc) is a suite of data structures and routines that provide the buildingblocks for the implementation of large-scale application codes on parallel (and serial) computers.PETSc uses the MPI standard for all message-passing communication.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

IMPROVED COMPUTATIONAL NEUTRONICS METHODS AND VALIDATION PROTOCOLS FOR THE ADVANCED TEST REACTOR

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is in the process of modernizing the various reactor physics modeling and simulation tools used to support operation and safety assurance of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Key accomplishments so far have encompassed both computational as well as experimental work. A new suite of stochastic and deterministic transport theory based reactor physics codes and their supporting nuclear data libraries (HELIOS, KENO6/SCALE, NEWT/SCALE, ATTILA, and an extended implementation of MCNP5) has been installed at the INL. Corresponding models of the ATR and ATRC are now operational with all five codes, demonstrating the basic feasibility of the new code packages for their intended purpose. Of particular importance, a set of as-run core depletion HELIOS calculations for all ATR cycles since August 2009 was successfully completed during 2011. This demonstration supported a decision late in the year to proceed with the phased incorporation of the HELIOS methodology into the ATR fuel cycle management process beginning in 2012. On the experimental side of the project, new hardware was fabricated, measurement protocols were finalized, and the first four of six planned physics code validation experiments based on neutron activation spectrometry were conducted at the ATRC facility. Data analysis for the first three experiments, focused on characterization of the neutron spectrum in one of the ATR flux traps, has been completed. The six experiments will ultimately form the basis for a flexible, easily-repeatable ATR physics code validation protocol that is consistent with applicable ASTM standards.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

FAST v8 Verification and Validation for a Megawatt-Scale Wind Turbine with Aeroelastically Tailored Blades: Preprint

This paper presents findings from a verification and validation exercise on the latest version of the U.S. Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory's in-house wind turbine aeroelastic design code FAST v8. Results from a set of 1141 FAST simulations were compared to those from Siemens' BHawC design code results, as well as experimental data from a heavily instrumented 2.3-MW Siemens wind turbine located at the National Wind Technology Center. The code validation was performed following the IEC-61400-13 standard, where a set of select quantities of interest from simulations at various wind speed and atmospheric turbulence conditions were used for a three-way comparison between FAST, BHawC, and the measurements. Results highlight many improvements of the latest version of FAST over its previous versions. This paper also provides comments from the authors on the data quality, and avenues for potential future work using these results.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Safety Related Concerns with Installation and Use of Switch-Rated Plug/Receptacle Combinations in Lieu of Metal-Enclosed Disconnect Switches

The manufacturers of Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) listed, switch-rated, plug and receptacle combinations tout their convenience, reliability, efficiency, and compliance with both the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70®, National Electric Code (NEC), and National Fire Protection Association 70E®, The Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, as advantages to using these products in lieu of traditional metal-enclosed disconnect switches. The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of several unintended consequences that can result when replacement involves high energy cord and plug connected equipment. This paper describes several possible issues in complying with the NFPA 70 Articles 110 and 400 and NFPA 70E Articles 110 and 130 that should be considered when using load rated plug/receptacle combinations. This paper is intended to address high energy circuits typically associated with 480 volt pin and sleeve type connections in applications where incident energy levels may exceed 1.2 calories/centimeter² (cal/cm²).

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Improved computational neutronics methods and validation protocols for the advanced test reactor

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is in the process of updating the various reactor physics modeling and simulation tools used to support operation and safety assurance of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Key accomplishments so far have encompassed both computational as well as experimental work. A new suite of stochastic and deterministic transport theory based reactor physics codes and their supporting nuclear data libraries (HELIOS, KENO6/SCALE, NEWT/SCALE, ATTILA, and an extended implementation of MCNP5) has been installed at the INL. Corresponding models of the ATR and ATRC are now operational with all five codes, demonstrating the basic feasibility of the new code packages for their intended purposes. On the experimental side of the project, new hardware was fabricated, measurement protocols were finalized, and the first four of six planned physics code validation experiments based on neutron activation spectrometry have been conducted at the ATRC facility. Data analysis for the first three experiments, focused on characterization of the neutron spectrum in one of the ATR flux traps, has been completed. The six experiments will ultimately form the basis for flexible and repeatable ATR physics code validation protocols that are consistent with applicable national standards. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Performance Evaluation of Axial Flow AG-1 FC and Prototype FM (High Strength) HEPA Filters - 13123

High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are routinely used in DOE nuclear containment activities. The Nuclear Air Cleaning Handbook (NACH) stipulates that air cleaning devices and equipment used in DOE nuclear applications must meet the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment (AG-1) standard. This testing activity evaluates two different axial flow HEPA filters, those from AG-1 Sections FC and FM. Section FM is under development and has not yet been added to AG-1 due to a lack of qualification data available for these filters. Section FC filters are axial flow units that utilize a fibrous glass filtering medium. The section FM filters utilize a similar fibrous glass medium, but also have scrim backing. The scrim-backed filters have demonstrated the ability to endure pressure impulses capable of completely destroying FC filters. The testing activities presented herein will examine the total lifetime loading for both FC and FM filters under ambient conditions and at elevated conditions of temperature and relative humidity. Results will include loading curves, penetration curves, and testing condition parameters. These testing activities have been developed through collaborations with representatives from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), DOE Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM), New Mexico State University, and Mississippi State University. (authors)

42 ENGINEERING↗

Thermochemical Nonequilibrium Modeling in a Continuous-Galerkin, Finite-Element Framework

The presented work discusses the implementation, verification, and validation of Park's two-temperature model in a scalable, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code developed at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The implementation of Park's two-temperature model was verified through 0D test cases involving an adiabatic reactor and a nitrogen thermal bath. The implementation was then validated through comparisons with other validated CFD codes and experimental data on a hypersonic cylinder and double cones. These are standard benchmark test cases for thermochemical non-equilibrium (TCNE) modeling, and all data are shared publicly. The verification and validation results showed that ORNL's in-house CFD code could model complex, high-speed flow problems with and without TCNE modeling. This work is essential for future research involving 3D shock wave/boundary layer interactions (SBLIs).

Nutter, Nicole↗

The RealGas and RealGasH2O Options of the TOUGH+ Code for the Simulation of Coupled Fluid and Heat Flow in Tight/Shale Gas Systems

We developed two new EOS additions to the TOUGH+ family of codes, the RealGasH2O and RealGas . The RealGasH2O EOS option describes the non-isothermal two-phase flow of water and a real gas mixture in gas reservoirs, with a particular focus in ultra-tight (such as tight-sand and shale gas) reservoirs. The gas mixture is treated as either a single-pseudo-component having a fixed composition, or as a multicomponent system composed of up to 9 individual real gases. The RealGas option has the same general capabilities, but does not include water, thus describing a single-phase, dry-gas system. In addition to the standard capabilities of all members of the TOUGH+ family of codes (fully-implicit, compositional simulators using both structured and unstructured grids), the capabilities of the two codes include: coupled flow and thermal effects in porous and/or fractured media, real gas behavior, inertial (Klinkenberg) effects, full micro-flow treatment, Darcy and non-Darcy flow through the matrix and fractures of fractured media, single- and multi-component gas sorption onto the grains of the porous media following several isotherm options, discrete and fracture representation, complex matrix-fracture relationships, and porosity-permeability dependence on pressure changes. The two options allow the study of flow and transport of fluids and heat over a wide range of time frames and spatial scales not only in gas reservoirs, but also in problems of geologic storage of greenhouse gas mixtures, and of geothermal reservoirs with multi-component condensable (H2O and CH4) and non-condensable gas mixtures. The codes are verified against available analytical and semi-analytical solutions. Their capabilities are demonstrated in a series of problems of increasing complexity, ranging from isothermal flow in simpler 1D and 2D conventional gas reservoirs, to non-isothermal gas flow in 3D fractured shale gas reservoirs involving 4 types of fractures, micro-flow, non-Darcy flow and gas composition changes during production.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

OpenStudio® Standards [SWR-07-40]

OpenStudio® Standards is a Ruby Gem library that extends the OpenStudio SDK. It has four main use-cases: Provide higher level methods to help BEM users and developers to create OpenStudio models from existing geometry, or programmatically generated geometry Create typical building models in OpenStudio format Create a code baseline model from a proposed model Check a model against a code/standard openstudio-standards previously supported making the DOE/PNNL prototype buildings in OpenStudio format. This has since been deprecated, as the DOE/PNNL prototypes are intended for specific code comparisons under the Energy Policy Act and are not intended to accurately represent typical existing or new buildings. While openstudio-standards still creates typical buildings, these are not the same as the DOE/PNNL prototypes.

Lopez, Phylroy↗

Energy and Energy Cost Savings Analysis of the IECC for Commercial Buildings

The purpose of this analysis is to assess the relative energy and energy cost performance of commercial buildings designed to meet the requirements found in the commercial energy efficiency provisions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Section 304(b) of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA), as amended, requires the Secretary of Energy to make a determination each time a revised version of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 is published with respect to whether the revised standard would improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. As many states have historically adopted the IECC for both residential and commercial buildings, PNNL has evaluated the impacts of the commercial provisions of the 2006, 2009, and 2012 editions of the IECC. PNNL also compared energy performance with corresponding editions of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 to help states and local jurisdictions make informed decisions regarding model code adoption.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Energy and Energy Cost Savings Analysis of the IECC for Commercial Buildings

The purpose of this analysis is to assess the relative energy and energy cost performance of commercial buildings designed to meet the requirements found in the commercial energy-efficiency provisions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Section 304(b) of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA), as amended, requires the Secretary of Energy to make a determination each time a revised version of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 is published with respect to whether the revised standard would improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. As many states have historically adopted the IECC for both residential and commercial buildings, PNNL has evaluated the impacts of the commercial provisions of the 2006, 2009, and 2012 editions of the IECC. PNNL also compared energy performance with corresponding editions of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 to help states and local jurisdictions make informed decisions regarding model code adoption.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Optimizing legacy molecular dynamics software with directive-based offload

The directive-based programming models are one solution for exploiting many-core coprocessors to increase simulation rates in molecular dynamics. They offer the potential to reduce code complexity with offload models that can selectively target computations to run on the CPU, the coprocessor, or both. In our paper, we describe modifications to the LAMMPS molecular dynamics code to enable concurrent calculations on a CPU and coprocessor. We also demonstrate that standard molecular dynamics algorithms can run efficiently on both the CPU and an x86-based coprocessor using the same subroutines. As a consequence, we demonstrate that code optimizations for the coprocessor also result in speedups on the CPU; in extreme cases up to 4.7X. We provide results for LAMMAS benchmarks and for production molecular dynamics simulations using the Stampede hybrid supercomputer with both Intel (R) Xeon Phi (TM) coprocessors and NVIDIA GPUs: The optimizations presented have increased simulation rates by over 2X for organic molecules and over 7X for liquid crystals on Stampede. The optimizations are available as part of the "Intel package" supplied with LAMMPS. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Benchmark Testing on the IBM-Q Network

The goal of this project is to evaluate a proposed set of candidate benchmarks being developed by the Standards and Performance Metrics Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C), of which LANL is a member. The QED-C Standards and Performance Metrics TAG has developed implementations of several benchmark codes with the hope and expectation that these codes will be helpful to QED-C members interested in investigating various quantum computer platforms. The benchmark set will be run on LANL’s access to the IBM-Q system with the intent to evaluate the set for scalability, correct execution, and coverage of the application space. The goal is for the QED-C Standards and Performance Metrics TAC to be able to produce a coherent, consistent, scalable set of benchmarks that will run on multiple quantum computing platforms and will be available to members of QED-C, including LANL.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

SU-E-P-22: AAPM Task Group 263 Tackling Standardization of Nomenclature for Radiation Therapy

Purpose: There is growing recognition of need for increased clarity and consistency in the nomenclatures used for body and organ structures, DVH metrics, toxicity, dose and volume units, etc. Standardization has multiple benefits; e.g. facilitating data collection for clinical trials, enabling the pooling of data between institutions, making transfers (i.e. hand-offs) between centers safer, and enabling vendors to define “default” settings. Towards this goal, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) formed a task group (TG263) in July of 2014, operating under the Work Group on Clinical Trials to develop consensus statements. Guiding principles derived from the investigation and example nomenclatures will be presented for public feedback. Methods: We formed a multi-institutional and multi-vendor collaborative group of 39 physicists, physicians and others involved in clinical use and electronic transfer of information. Members include individuals from IROC, NRG, IHE-RO, DICOM WG-7, ASTRO and EORTC groups with overlapping interests to maximize the quality of the consensus and increase the likelihood of adoption. Surveys of group and NRG members were used to define current nomenclatures and requirements. Technical requirements of vendor systems and the proposed DICOM standards were examined. Results: There is a marked degree of inter and intra institutional variation in current approaches, resulting from inter-vendor differences in capabilities, clinic specific conceptualizations and inconsistencies. Using a consensus approach, the group defined optimal formats for the naming of targets and normal structures. A formal objective assessment of 13 existing clinically-used software packages show that all had capabilities to accommodate these recommended nomenclatures. Conclusions: A multi-stakeholder effort is making significant steps forward in developing a standard nomenclature that will work across platforms. Our current working list includes > 550 structures. Outreach efforts are ongoing to ensure broader participation in evaluating and testing the principles as they are developed by TG263.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

PNNL Sequim Campus Radionuclide Air Emissions Report for Calendar Year 2025 : Department of Energy – Office of Science Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Pacific Northwest Site Office has oversight and stewardship duties associated with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Sequim Campus. Facility operations include radiological operations with the potential-to-emit low levels of radioactive materials. This report is prepared to document compliance with the 40 CFR Part 61, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, Subpart H, “National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other than Radon from Department of Energy Facilities,” and Washington Administrative Code Chapter 246-247, Radiation Protection–Air Emissions. The PNNL Sequim Campus is in compliance with the federal and state 10 mrem/yr standard for 2025 operations.

40 CFR 61 Subpart H↗

MDSplus quality improvement project

MDSplus is a data acquisition and analysis system used worldwide predominantly in the fusion research community. Development began 29 years ago on the OpenVMS operating system. Since that time there have been many new features added and the code has been ported to many different operating systems. There have been contributions to the MDSplus development from the fusion community in the way of feature suggestions, feature implementations, documentation and porting to different operating systems. The bulk of the development and support of MDSplus, however, has been provided by a relatively small core developer group of three or four members. Given the size of the development team and the large number of users much more effort was focused on providing new features for the community than on keeping the underlying code and documentation up to date with the evolving software development standards. To ensure that MDSplus will continue to provide the needs of the community in the future, the MDSplus development team along with other members of the MDSplus user community has commenced on a major quality improvement project. The planned improvements include changes to software build scripts to better use GNU Autoconf and Automake tools, refactoring many of the source code modules using new language features available in modern compilers, using GNU MinGW-w64 to create MS Windows distributions, migrating to a more modern source code management system, improvement of source documentation as well as improvements to the www.mdsplus.org web site documentation and layout, and the addition of more comprehensive test suites to apply to MDSplus code builds prior to releasing installation kits to the community. This paper should lead to a much more robust product and establish a framework to maintain stability as more enhancements and features are added. Finally, this paper will describe these efforts that are either in progress or planned for the near future.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗