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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 1,153 records · Page 64

Kilopower - Powering the Future of Space Exploration [Poster]

The Kilopower Project was initiated by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate to demonstrate subsystem-level technology readiness of small space fission power in a relevant environment (TRL 5) for space science and human exploration power needs. The Kilopower Project centerpiece is the Kilowatt Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) test, which consists of the development and testing of a ground technology demonstrator of a 1 kWe class fission power system. The technologies to be developed and validated by KRUSTY are extensible to space fission power systems from 1 to 10 kWe, which can enable modular surface fission power systems for human exploration, as well as higher power future potential deep space science missions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

AMPX [Slides]

This presentation discusses and announces that AMPX is now available as open source. It additionally provides an overview about ENDF and GNDS reading in AMPX. It also discusses thermal scattering law updates and the CE and MG data libraries for SCALE 6.3.0 and SCALE 7.0.0. In addition, the presentation discusses the photonuclear sub library processing capability of AMPX.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

COG Beta-Effective Benchmarks

COG 11.3 calculations with the “new method” using ENDF/B-VIII.0 data are shown to produce results with |C/E – 1| < 3σ in all cases, whereas the other methods produce a few minor outliers. Furthermore, the “new method” using ENDF/B-VIII.0 data is observed to produce “over” and “under” results consistent with 50/50 expectations whereas the other methods appear to be slightly over or under predicting. JEFF-3.3 results are slightly larger overall than ENDF/B-VIII.0 results. In all but a few cases, it is also observed that $F_d/F_t ≥ (vF)_d/(vF)_t ≥ 1 – (k_{prompt}/k_{eff})$ and all estimators produce equivalent results for the most thermal systems. In those other cases, this relation holds within the given statistics.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

TNSL support in GNDS 2.0 and beyond [Slides]

This presentation begins by discussing the TNSL format options that went through a major overhaul in GNDS-2.0 and it examines the changes in 2.0. Additionally, it discusses three issues with further changes that should be considered. The first issue is that the project needs some guidance on what to expect when evaluations are performed with coherent inelastic. The second issue is that GNDS-2.0 does not provide a way to clearly specify in the evaluation how to switch to ‘standard’ incident neutron evaluations for energies or temperatures outside the TNSL domain. The third issue is that when GNDS-2.0 was designed, it was assumed that S(α,β) would always be given on a uniform interpolation grid. The presentation concludes by discussing how New JENDL-5 TNSL evaluations have some complications.

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GNDS v2.0 release and future developments [Slides]

This presentation begins by discussing the major changes in v2.0 of GNDS and that the GNDS-2.0 formatted libraries are now available. It also examines how code support for GNDS is growing with processing codes, APIs and transport codes, and evaluation/testing codes. The presentation states that while migrating to GNDS can be a major effort it worthwhile, especially for anyone who is just getting started as nuclear data creator or user. Additionally, this presentation outlines the established milestones that the EG-GNDS (the group in charge of GNDS specs) has for the next GNDS release and elaborates on the first goal, which is to migrate GNDS specifications to the new JSON schema language.

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Neutron Pulsed Die-Away Experiments at LLNL [Slides]

This presentation discusses why PNDA is ideal for TSL validations as it does not require fissile material, it has very simple target shapes and compositions, it is only sensitive to absorption and scattering of target medium, and that well conducted experiments have uncertainties of 0.1% - 0.5%. The presentation concludes by examining PNDA’s advantages and its role in nuclear data validations as it offers a cost-effective experiment for an integral benchmark, it provides the ability to focus on specific cross section data validation including thermal neutron absorption and thermal scattering laws, and the low experimental uncertainty makes it an excellent benchmark candidate. Additionally, it is easily tunable and can facilitate temperature dependent cross section validation by cooling or heating up targets.

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Neural Thermal Scattering (NeTS) Modules for Graphite & Beryllium [Slides]

This presentation discusses the motivations behind the project, which include facilitating compact formulation for TSL data, extending AI knowledge, and providing advanced reactor simulation framework. It also discusses how the project accounts for beryllium and graphite complexity, including atomistic, dynamical, and neural. Additionally, new material-informed neural thermal scattering (NeTS) Modules are examined. The implications, conclusions, and plan future work for the project are also discussed.

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Implementation of TSL Evaluations Beyond the Incoherent Approximation [Slides]

This presentation discusses the motivation behind the project, which is to facilitate the production of TSL libraries that contain high fidelity physics including coherent inelastic effects, such as graphite and beryllium. High fidelity TSL libraries are of interest in various applications, for example in relation to neutron scattering instrument response analysis and directional biases (reflection) in neutronic analysis. In summation, the removal of typical approximations, in terms of incoherent, cubic, and atom site are examined. The application of generalized equations to crystalline graphite and beryllium TSL evaluations and the validation of data and data formats is also discussed.

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On the Uranium and Plutonium Nuclear Data Evaluations [Slides]

This presentation provides overviews of uraniums, 233 U and 235 U, plutonium research including motivations, current status in ENDF/B-VIII.0, the inclusion of sub-thermal data, and the inclusion of LANL ratio capture-to-fission data. Additionally, the preliminary fit of Mosby’s data as reported, fluctuating neutron multiplicities, uncertainty in evaluated libraries, and experimental effects are also presented. The presentation concludes by providing a summary of plans for the U and Pu evaluation work.

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SAMMY Modernization Efforts [Slides]

This presentation discusses SAMMY releases and states that all of its dependencies are freely available. It also discusses version control and confirms that versions will be tagged as needed. Additionally, SAMMY program flow is discussed and states that the program flow was improved to allow for easier external access to SAMMY routines. Modernization of SAMMY is continued with the Doppler and Resolution broadening modules. The presentation concludes by stating that documentation updates are in progress.

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Proposed Generalized Header File for TSLs [Slides]

This presentation discusses several recent issues have been raised over the past few years regarding inconsistent definitions for the number of scattering atoms between incoherent elastic and inelastic (MT2 and MT4 files, respectively) in the same MF7 file and isotopic distribution of primary scattering atom. It also discusses how processing codes handle these potential issues in different ways. Additionally, it discusses how the preferred solution would be automation in order to reduce possibility of user error and a proposed solution in the form of a MF7/MT1 file is examined with preliminary examples. The presentation concludes with a question-and-answer discussion.

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Overview of Nuclear Data Measurement and Analysis at RPI [Slides]

This presentation discusses the experimental, simulation, and nuclear data methods that were validated for the RPI γ-Multiplicity Detector. When the neutron capture γ-cascade data is well-known, the γ-emission spectra can be accurately calculated using the modified simulation tools. The RPI γ-Multiplicity Detector system is now ready for analysis and recommendations for isotopes with deficiencies in γ-ray data. The presentation also discusses future work which includes developing a method for analyzing and adjusting nuclear data for 59 Co, 55 Mn and other measured isotopes including 181 Ta. Additionally, future work includes comparing experimental γ-emission spectra with MCNP-6.2/DICEBOX simulations for 238 U and 235 U. In summation, new capture and transmission measurements for 54 Fe will help improve resonance parameter evaluation. Neutron capture gamma cascade spectra and yields were measured in the resolved resonance region and compared to evaluations. In addition, the pulsed neutron die-away method was developed as a tool to provide data for validation of TSLs.

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