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DOE OSTI2022

Adapting the Technology Performance Level Integrated Assessment Framework to Low-TRL Technologies Within the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Industry, Part I

With the urgent need to mitigate climate change and rising global temperatures, technological solutions that reduce atmospheric CO 2 are an increasingly important part of the global solution. As a result, the nascent carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) industry is rapidly growing with a plethora of new technologies in many different sectors. There is a need to holistically evaluate these new technologies in a standardized and consistent manner to determine which technologies will be the most successful and competitive in the global marketplace to achieve decarbonization targets. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) have been employed as rigorous methodologies for quantitatively measuring a technology's environmental impacts and techno-economic performance, respectively. However, these metrics evaluate a technology's performance in only three dimensions and do not directly incorporate stakeholder needs and values. In addition, technology developers frequently encounter trade-offs during design that increase one metric at the expense of the other. The technology performance level (TPL) combined indicator provides a comprehensive and holistic assessment of an emerging technology's potential, which is described by its techno-economic performance, environmental impacts, social impacts, safety considerations, market/deployability opportunities, use integration impacts, and general risks. TPL incorporates TEA and LCA outputs and quantifies the trade-offs between them directly using stakeholder feedback and requirements. In this article, the TPL methodology is being adapted from the marine energy domain to the CCUS domain. Adapted metrics and definitions, a stakeholder analysis, and a detailed foundation-based application of the systems engineering approach to CCUS are presented. The TPL assessment framework is couched within the internationally standardized LCA framework to improve technical rigor and acceptance. It is demonstrated how stakeholder needs and values can be directly incorporated, how LCA and TEA metrics can be balanced, and how other dimensions (listed earlier) can be integrated into a single metric that measures a technology's potential.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Cradle-to-Grave Lifecycle Analysis of U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle-Fuel Pathways: A Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Assessment of Current (2020) and Future (2030-2035) Technologies

This study provides a comprehensive life cycle analysis (LCA), or cradle-to-grave (C2G) analysis, of the cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a variety of vehicle-fuel pathways, the levelized cost of driving (LCD) and cost of avoided GHG emissions. The C2G analysis assesses light duty midsize sedans and small sport utility vehicles (SUVs) across a variety of vehicle-fuel technology pathways, including conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), flexible hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with varying vehicle ranges, and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Coming at a timely manner, given the marked increase, since 2016, in climate aspirations announced by governmental institutions and private firms both in the US and across the globe, this analysis builds on a previous comprehensive life cycle analysis, updating that study’s 2016 assumptions and methods (Elgowainy et al. 2016). These updates incorporate technological advances and changes in energy supply sources that have emerged during the intervening period. Utilizing these updated assumptions and methods, alongside more recent data, the present report accounts for a broader range of vehicle technologies and considers both current (2020) and expected future (2030-2035) conditions. Reflecting increased research interest in synthetic liquid fuels produced using renewable low-carbon electricity and CO 2 sources, electro-fuels (a.k.a. e-fuels) were added to the potential future fuel technologies that are evaluated. This study takes a “pathway” approach rather than a “scenario” approach; hence distinct, technically feasible, routes or sequences of processes starting with one or more feedstocks and ending with an intermediate or a final product are examined, not necessarily constrained by practical feedstock, economic, policy, and market considerations.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2026

TCF Base Commercialization Enabling Final Report: Lab Making Advanced Technology Commercialization Harmonized (MATCH) Prize

The Lab MATCH prize, funded by the Office of Technology Commercialization through the Technology Commercialization Fund, was designed to accelerate the commercialization of national laboratory intellectual property (IP) by incentivizing for-profit companies and startups to license lab IP aiming to enable more affordable, available, reliable and secure energy solutions. The Lab MATCH prize program offers both technical and commercial benefits, aligning with the Department of Energy's (DOE) mission to advance energy solutions through innovation, commercialization, and market-ready deployment. In summary, the Lab MATCH Prize promotes DOE's objectives by marrying technical innovation with commercialization expertise, resulting in scalable, market-ready solutions that strengthen the U.S. economy, advance energy technologies, and reaffirm U.S. leadership in energy innovation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Molten Salt Reactor Signatures and Modeling Study

Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies, either liquid fueled and cooled or only liquid cooled, pose specific, unique challenges for safeguards of the special nuclear material during the operation, fueling, and maintenance of the reactor. MSRs are one type of Generation IV technologies being invested in and considered for U.S. domestic fabrication primarily for electricity and process heat production. These designs have generated growing commercial interest for several reasons, including high (≈40%) thermal efficiency, ease of fueling, improved use of uranium fuel, potential utilization of thorium fuel, and proposed inherent safety features. U.S. companies have several planned designs that differ in fuel, cooling, and neutron energy spectrum. Driven by commercial interest and the intent of licensing MSRs, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed a vision and strategy to accommodate non-light water reactors (LWR), which include MSRs (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2019). In addition, the Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Office of Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART), …sponsors research, development and deployment (RD&D) activities through its Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC), and Advanced Small Modular Reactor (aSMR) programs to promote safety, technical, economical, and environmental advancements of innovative Generation IV nuclear energy technologies. Reactor types considering the use of salts, liquid metals, or gases for coolant fall under both ARC and aSMR. Therefore, Research Design & Development is being pursued by DOE-NE through national laboratories, universities, and international and industrial collaborations. Additionally, the U.S. is a member of the Gen IV International Forum (GIF). The GIF is a cooperative, multinational organization to guide and carry out research and development needed for the GEN IV reactor systems (Forum 2018). GIF evaluated numerous reactor concepts and down-selected to the six most feasible advanced reactor technologies: gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), MSR, supercritical watercooled reactor (SCWR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), and very high temperature reactor (VHTR). In support of the growing interest domestically and internationally, the Materials Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) campaign, under the DOE-NE Fuel Cycle Technologies (FCT) program, engages in R&D activities by developing advanced instrumentation and analysis for safeguards and security of modern, advanced nuclear fuel cycle (non-LWR) facilities. Because of the historic experience in the operation of the Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) and the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) (Robertson, MSRE Design and Operations Report Part I 1965), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is heavily engaged in the various R&D activities through the DOE complex related to MSRs including national technical leadership of the DOE-NE MSR campaign. This report discusses and presents the outcomes of the FY19 MPACT MSR Safeguards task. The challenges presented by MSRs for nuclear material accountancy and control (NMAC) and associated safeguards will be investigated. The objective of this research is to explore and compile the safeguards requirements and identify measurement signatures through an initial high-level MSR design and develop complementary advanced simulation and modeling capabilities. A high-level ORNL-developed MSR design called the Molten Salt Demonstration Reactor (MSDR) (Bettis, Alexander and Watts 1972) was used as the target reactor design for this research. The MSDR model incorporates technology from the MSRE and the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (Robertson, Conceptual Design of a Single-Fluid Molten-Salt Breeder Reactor 1971). But the MSDR is a 750 MWth graphite moderated liquid fueled (low-enriched uranium) MSR compared to the MSRE’s of 7.5 MWth. The focus of this report is to discuss the evaluation of novel signatures, correlations, and indicators to understand the applicability of current safeguards instrumentation to MSRs using the modeling results from the MSDR.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2021

MCC On Boarding Section J-2 (Exhibit H) Quality Assurance Requirements [Slides]

Upon MATOC Award, SUBCONTRACTOR shall submit a Quality Assurance Program for evaluation in accordance with subcontract technical and quality requirements. This may be the Subcontractors corporate QA program. Acceptance by Triad of the SUBCONTRACTORS Quality Assurance Program (QAP), as prescribed in Exhibit H, QC-01A and 01B, allows the SUBCONTRACTOR to execute this contract using their approved QAP. SUBCONTRACTORS QAP as approved by CONTRACTOR must meet the applicable requirements of DOE Order 414.1D (see next slide) and must address flow down of the quality requirements to lower tier subcontractors. Triad acceptance of SUBCONTRACTOR’s QAP approval is required prior to Notice to Proceed with on-site work. A Project Specific QA plan may on rare occasions be required for a specific task

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

DOE OSTI2024

Application of quantitative risk assessment to address stakeholder questions in geologic carbon storage

Ambitious international greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets demand a rapid transformation to a low-carbon economy. This transformation includes the accelerated adoption of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) technology. However, as with any large-scale engineering enterprise, the widespread commercial-scale deployment of geologic carbon storage (GCS) raises important questions about technology and cost-effectiveness, safety, environmental risk, and long-term liability. Effectively assessing and managing risks and liability associated with GCS projects is a key technical need throughout the project life cycle-from site selection and permitting to monitoring design, operational risk management, and post-operational site closure. This presentation highlights recent advancements in tools for quantitative risk assessment, being developed by the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP). NRAP is a multi-year, multinational laboratory research collaboration sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Our focus will be on these tools' applications in addressing critical stakeholder questions related to supporting permitting to ensure secure and environmentally protective storage; designing effective and efficient monitoring plans; evaluating the effectiveness of remedial actions and risk management alternatives; and informing liability assessment and investment decisions. This paper will detail the key functionality of NRAP’s Open-Source Integrated Assessment Model (NRAP-Open-IAM), a computational framework for assessing leakage risk and containment assurance. This model features streamlined workflows for calculating leakage risk profiles, delineating risk-based area of review, and assessing contingency plans and post-injection site care requirements. ORION is an open-source, observation-based ensemble forecasting toolkit to help operators assess the seismic hazard at a carbon storage site. The State of Stress Analysis Tool (SOSAT), designed to assess subsurface stress conditions and evaluate geomechanical risk resulting from CO2 injection in an area of interest will also be presented. We will also introduce a prototype model to evaluate storage project costs and liability associated with risk management. The Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) model uses results from forecasts of leakage and induced seismicity risk to estimate the lifecycle cost of managing risk. Finally, a preliminary example of how the NRAP Risk-based Adaptive Monitoring Plan (RAMP) tool can be used to design efficient and effective site monitoring plans and estimate the detectability of fluid leakage will be provided. The relevance of these tools for addressing key stakeholder questions amidst uncertainty will be emphasized.

decision support↗

DOE OSTI2021

Interim Findings and Suggestions: Cyclic Steaming above Fracturing Pressure and the Associated Surface Expressions

In the wake of California’s new regulations for Underground Injection Control (enacted in April 2019) and several recent high-visibility surface expressions associated with high-pressure cyclic steaming in diatomite formations, a Moratorium on the issuance of permits for new wells using high pressure steam injection was announced on November 19, 2019. We, a panel consisting of technical experts and regulators from CalGEM and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, were commissioned by CalGEM to carry out the study as documented in this report, to: Determine if projects using cyclic steam injection above fracturing pressure (referred to as “cyclic steaming” hereafter) can be implemented safely, and Identify specific criteria for future permitting should the Moratorium be lifted.

02 PETROLEUM↗

DOE OSTI2021

Request for Information on Establishing a New Manufacturing Institute (DE-FOA-0002564)

Deep decarbonization of major industries such as metals manufacturing requires extensive process integration and controls to manage feedstocks, side reactions, heat, water, and waste streams. The scale of the energy and capital investment requires that process integration be validated to a high level of confidence with no bias. Industries such as steel production have very thin profit margins. Therefore, lack of confidence in process integration, product quality, and economics is a major deterrence to changes in manufacturing capital investment. Public sector investment in reconfigurable pilot testbeds and a first-of-a-kind plant would be necessary to de-risk technical and financial barriers prior to industry-wide buildout. DOE should consider a National Lab-led hub for the testbeds. Lab testbeds could be utilized in campaigns and allow multiple industrial partners to evaluate and validate technologies prior to making major capital investments.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2020

A Generic Advanced Computing Framework for Executing Windows-based Dynamic Contingency Analysis Tool in Parallel on Cluster Machines

Dynamic contingency analysis tool (DCAT) has been developed to assess the impact and likelihood of extreme contingencies and potential cascading events across their systems and interconnections. By including more customized protection models and corrective actions into the Windows-based commercial tools, DCAT can help operators understand the cascading behavior and find mitigation approaches to reduce the risk of cascading outages in a more realistic manner. In order to further enhance the capability of DCAT, this paper presents a design of an advanced computing framework that enables DCAT to run on a cluster machine to improve its computational performance. This framework is generic and can be applied to other Windows-based simulation tools to fill the technical gap of applying advanced computing technology to vendors' Windows-based tools. The preliminary tests using medium to large power systems have shown the effectiveness of this framework and its potential for accelerating the adoption of advanced computing in utilities.

Advanced computing, dynamic contingency analysis, ↗

DOE OSTI2020

PSIP For HDF5 Pilot Project (Final Report)

Productivity and Sustainability Improvement Planning (PSIP) is a lightweight, incremental and iterative approach (much in the same spirit as Agile methodologies) for making routine software process improvements in software projects. It is designed to be easily applied in existing development workflows. Quoting from a November 2019 workshop paper describing PSIP. PSIP breaks from classic software process improvement approaches such as CMM(I), SPICE, ISO 9000 or Six Sigma, in that it trades comprehensive standards and certification-driven assessment for self-defined, internally driven goals. It does, however, carry forward such ideas as having staged models of improvement (like CMM(I)) in the form of progress tracking cards. Additionally, PSIP is more aligned with lean and agile methods; it adopts their emphasis on iterative improvement and continuous learning. At its core, PSIP is an instantiation of the Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle (PDCA, also known as Plan-Do-Study-Adjust) which provides the foundation for much of the modern software process improvement literature. This situates PSIP within a constellation of bottom-up, inductive software process improvement methods. PSIP is designed around the notion that already overburdened teams can define and carry out a series of small, incremental steps of progression towards improvement goals without significant (there will be some, but the goal is to avoid significant) disruption to ongoing development activities. A key enabling tool in PSIP is the use of Progress Tracking Cards (PTCs) which define the steps of progression towards a given improvement goal. This is the theory of PSIP. The PSIP for HDF5 project was aimed at putting PSIP into practice with the purpose of evaluating its effectiveness in planning and facilitating quality and process improvements in a scientific software project as well as its associated artifacts. The HDF5 project was chosen as a use case to evaluate PSIP for several reasons. First, NNSA labs and LLNL in particular have a keen interest in how HDF5 quality impacts its uptake and sustainability as a community adopted and supported code. Next, HDF5 is a foundational library, a key substrate in the HPC/CSE software stack, and any improvements there realized through this contract will have benefits to many DOE applications depending on it. HDF5 also represents an older, legacy code with technical debts to pay down. These characteristics are similar to many NNSA and even some ECP code projects. But, because HDF5 is an I/O library, it represents a simpler use case within which to study PSIP than a full-fledged and significantly more complex PDE simulation code. We believe these attributes make HDF5 an ideal use case for evaluating PSIP.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2026

Detecting and Characterizing Fracture Zones Using a Convolutional Neural Network

This project directly supports the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) objectives outlined in the Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) by advancing two key research areas: “Exploration and Characterization” and “Data, Modeling, and Analysis.” This project has successfully demonstrated a pre-drilling ability to image and characterize the distribution and connectivity of subsurface faults and fractures, key parameters for identifying permeable pathways that enable geothermal fluids to circulate and produce energy. Specifically, we developed and implemented innovative machine learning methodologies to enhance geothermal exploration. Large-scale faults were detected using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), while small-scale fractures were characterized using a novel Double-Beam Neural Network (DBNN). These tools have proven both technically effective and cost-efficient by reducing reliance on expensive exploratory drilling. Through collaboration with our geothermal industry partner, this research has significantly advanced techniques for identifying hidden geothermal systems and extending the productive lifespan of existing geothermal fields. We applied our methods to two geothermal fields—Soda Lake (Nevada) and Lightning Dock (New Mexico)—to identify shallow steam-charged fracture zones and characterize deep faults at depths of 1.5-2 km. The steam zone identified at the Soda Lake geothermal field showed excellent agreement with prior drilling data, validating the effectiveness of our approaches. In addition, the analysis revealed three new prospective drilling targets for further development and verification. The outcomes of this project improve our scientific understanding of geothermal reservoir behavior, enhance exploration efficiency, extend the economic life of existing geothermal plants. Ultimately, these advancements contribute to GTO’s goal of achieving more sustainable, affordable, and data-driven geothermal energy development across the United States.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

NREL's 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 Study

The 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 Study evaluates a variety of scenarios that achieve a 100% clean electricity system (defined as zero net greenhouse gas emissions) in 2035 that could put the United States on a path to economywide net-zero emissions by 2050. The scenarios focus primarily on the supply of clean electricity, including technical requirements, challenges, and benefit and cost implications. The study results highlight multiple pathways to 100% clean electricity in which benefits exceed costs. The study does not comprehensively evaluate all options to achieve 100% clean electricity, and it focuses largely on supply-side options. This summary deck provides a high-level overview of the key findings.

clean electricity↗

DOE OSTI2021

MACCS Theory Manual

This report describes the models of the MACCS computer code as presented in MACCS Version 3.10.0. The purpose of MACCS is to simulate the impact of severe accidents at nuclear power plants on the surrounding environment. MACCS has been developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. From a given release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, MACCS estimates the extent and magnitude of radiological contamination, offsite doses, protective actions, socioeconomic impacts and costs, and health effects. Since the weather at the time of an accident is not predictable, MACCS supports various sampling options to run a representative set of simulations to evaluate weather variability. MACCS simulates atmospheric transport with a straight-line Gaussian plume segment model. From the estimated air and ground concentrations, MACCS models dose projections through several dose exposure pathways. These exposures can be offset by protective actions during the emergency response and long-term recovery of the accident. MACCS users directly specify the evacuation and sheltering area, while other protective actions (e.g., relocation, farmland restrictions, decontamination) are based on user-specified dose or concentration limits. While protective actions help reduce dose accumulation, they also cause social and economic impacts. MACCS models the extent of displaced individuals and land contamination, and the cost of offsite property damage, economic disruptions, and various accident expenditures caused by protective actions. Finally, from the dose accumulation, MACCS estimates early and stochastic health effects according to dose-response models. The purpose of consequence analyses is to be able to understand and estimate the impact of nuclear accidents. Consequence analysis is an essential tool to inform determinations of adequate protection of the public, to understand nuclear power hazards, to measure the value of regulations, and to help us appreciate the importance of nuclear safety. As such, MACCS has a variety of regulatory uses including environmental analyses (10 CFR 51.53, 52.47), regulatory cost-benefit analyses, backfit analyses (10 CFR 50.109), consequence analysis studies such as SOARCA (NUREG-1935), Level 3 PRA studies, and risk-informing of emergency planning (10 CFR 50 App. E and 50.47). This report updates the previous MACCS theory manual (NUREG/CR-4691 Vol. 2; Chanin, Sprung, Ritchie, & Jow, 1990) and accompanies the MACCS User's Guide (SAND-2021-1588) that describes the use and input requirements of the graphical user interface of MACCS known as WinMACCS. The MACCS User's Guide is also a reference guide that describes data input file formats, describes various software components in the MACCS code suite, and provides a set of example tutorials for running WinMACCS. Also, soon to be published is a MACCS input parameter guidance report (NUREG/CR-7270) that provides technical bases for commonly used MACCS input values. This page left blank

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2023

RADWIND Project Final Technical Report

The Rural Area Distributed Wind Integration Network Development (RADWIND) Project (January 2020-April 2023) was undertaken by NRECA Research, a not-for-profit subsidiary of NRECA focused on underwritten research, with the support of DOE. The project was part of the Wind Energy Technologies Office’s (WETO’s) Wind Integration for Rural Economic Development (WIRED) program, which was developed out of an October 2018 workshop in which NRECA participated in. RADWIND’s end of project goal was “to raise awareness of distributed wind as a solution for the energy, resiliency, and economic development needs of electric cooperatives, and to provide resources and information that reduce barriers and lower costs for co-ops seeking to deploy distributed wind. Through this project, NRECA Research seeks to establish a national distributed wind presence for and by NRECA’s members that delivers these benefits and plans to communicate NRECA’s members that properly deployed distributed wind can be a bankable technology option for rural America.”

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

A Guide to Engaging Underserved Communities in Commercial Energy Efficiency Field Validations

Underserved communities in the United States often experience the negative impacts of climate change and environmental degradation but enjoy few of the benefits of technological and environmental advances. The White House has addressed this inequity through the Justice40 initiative, which requires 40% of the benefits of select federal investments to be directed to underserved communities (The White House, 2022). Clean energy and energy efficiency are two highlighted investment categories, so the U.S. Department of Energy will guide implementation of the Justice40 initiative by, among other things, decreasing energy burdens, increasing parity in clean energy technology access and adoption, and increasing energy resiliency. A strategy for reaching these goals is to evaluate and validate new energy efficiency technologies in commercial buildings in underserved communities, where buildings may be older, smaller, and have deferred maintenance due to historical underinvestment. This paper develops guidance for researchers pursuing field validations with underserved communities. Historical redlining and past negative experiences with government and large institutions may make residents wary of participating in these field validations. Researchers, therefore, may need to spend more time building relationships and matching technologies to buildings. In this paper, we analyzed technical reports to identify common field validation building characteristics and conducted semi-structured expert conversations to identify key stages and major themes of engaging underserved communities. Results indicate there may be flexibility in site selection and there are steps researchers can take to support collaboration with communities. Results also suggest benefits to both the community and energy efficiency research.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Optimizing Information Automation Using a New Method Based on System-Theoretic Process Analysis: Tool Development and Method Evaluation

This report is an update to a prior report that describes progress and findings for a program of research supporting the design and optimization of information automation systems for nuclear power plants. Much of the domestic nuclear fleet is currently focused on modernizing technologies and processes, including transitioning toward digitalization in the control room and throughout the plant, along with a greater interest in the use of automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, and other emerging technologies. While there are significant opportunities to apply these technologies toward greater plant safety, efficiency, and overall cost-effectiveness, optimizing their design and avoiding potential safety and performance risks depends on ensuring that human performance-related organizational and technical design issues are identified and addressed early in the design process. This report describes modeling tools and techniques, based on sociotechnical systems theory, to support these design goals and their application in the current research effort. The report is primarily intended for senior nuclear energy stakeholders, including regulators, corporate management, and senior plant management. We have developed and employed a method to design an optimized information automation ecosystem (IAE) based on the systems-theoretic constructs underlying sociotechnical systems theory in general and the Systems-Theoretic Accident Modeling and Processes (STAMP) approach in particular. We argue that an IAE can be modeled as an interactive information control system whose behavior can be understood in terms of dynamic control, feedback, and communication relationships amongst the system’s technical and organizational components. We have employed two STAMP-based tools in this effort. The first is Causal Analysis based on STAMP (CAST), an accident and incident analysis technique that was used to examine a performance- and safety-related incident at an industry partner’s plant involving the unintentional activation of an emergency diesel generator. This analysis provided insight into the behavior of the plant’s current information control structure within the context of a specific, significant event. The second tool is Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) which is a proactive risk analysis tool used to examine existing and potential, planned sociotechnical systems. STPA was used to identify risk factors in the current design of a generic nuclear power plant (NPP) preventive maintenance system. Our analyses focused on identifying near-term system improvements and longer-term design requirements for an optimized IAE system. CAST analysis findings indicate an important underlying contributor to the incident under investigation, and a significant risk to information automation system performance, was perceived time and schedule pressure, which exposed weaknesses in interdepartmental coordination between and within responsible plant organizations and challenged the resilience of established plant processes, until a human caused the eventual event. These findings are discussed in terms of their risk to overall system performance and their implications for information automation system resilience and brittleness. STPA findings exposed several areas of concern in the design of current preventive maintenance systems. We also present two preliminary information automation models. The proactive issue resolution (PIR) model is a test case of an information automation concept with significant near-term potential for application and subsequent reduction in significant plant events. The IAE model is a more general representation of a broader, plantwide information automation system and represents an end-state vision for our work. From our results, we have generated an initial set of preliminary system-level requirements and safety constraints for these models. We have also focused on early development of easy to learn, easy to use “transportable” tools for sociotechnical systems analysis. We intend these to be used by NPP personnel as a means of gaining reliable and relatively quick insight into (1) sociotechnical systems factors impacting incidents and accidents, (2) potential sociotechnical risk factors in existing or planned system designs, and (3) potential weaknesses in a system’s safety and/or information control structure. We conclude the report with a set of summary recommendations, a discussion of planned and potential follow-on research and development, and a draft list of system-level requirements and safety constraints for optimized information automation systems.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Roadmap for IES Modeling and Simulation Activities: Update 2023

Since inception of the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program, several program and modeling visions and roadmaps have been published. In 2020, a last comprehensive roadmap for the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems program was published. In 2017, a separate modeling and simulation capability development plan was published that was extensively updated in 2022. The current report incrementally updates the 2022 modeling and simulation capability roadmap. This is not a new report, but individual sections have been updated to reflect recent accomplishments and new directions of the program. The role of modeling and simulation within IES is to support the demonstration of new coupled integrated technologies along every step of the technology maturation from the strategic analysis of preferred system architecture to preliminary design, to laboratory testing, up to full commercial testing and integration. To achieve this role, modeling and simulation must be able to assess the technical performance and the economic viability of potential IES. Also, modeling and simulation must provide support for experimental evaluations (i.e., support component design and real-time operations of experimental demonstration systems). Finally, modeling and simulation can help scale-up experimental systems to the final commercial systems. This report details the current state of the modeling and simulation efforts within IES for the above-mentioned areas, provides a gap analysis, and proposes next steps for a time horizon over the next years.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2024

State's Perspective on Regulating CO 2 Storage and Permitting UIC Class VI Injection Wells

Conference presentation at 48th International Technical Conference on Clean Energy (Clearwater Clean Energy Conference), Clearwater, Florida, June 16–19, 2024. An overview of the Plains CO 2 Reduction (PCOR) Partnership Initiative, the regulatory framework for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), and a timeline of the state and federal permitting process.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗