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Compositional Variation Tests on DuraMelter 100 with LAW Sub-Envelope C1 Feed (LAWC22) Glass in Support of the LAW Pilot Melter (Final Report)
The Vitreous State Laboratory at The Catholic University of America (VSL) is developing and testing glass formulations for RPP-WTP waste envelopes to provide data to meet the RPP-WTP contract requirements and to support system design activities. That work is based upon small-scale batch melts (“crucible melts”) using waste envelope simulants. Selected formulations have also been tested in small-scale continuously-fed joule-heated melters (DM10 and DM100 systems) and, ultimately, in the LAW Pilot Melter. Such melter tests provide information on key process factors such as feed processing behavior, dynamic effects during processing, sulfate incorporation, processing rates, off-gas amounts and compositions, foaming control, etc., that cannot be reliably obtained from crucible melts. This sequential scale-up approach in the vitrification testing program ensures that maximum benefit is obtained from the more costly pilot-scale tests and that the most effective use is made of that resource. The principal objective of the work described in this report was to collect the necessary small-scale melter test data with a LAW Sub-Envelope C1 waste simulant in order to support the next series of tests with the same melter feed on the LAW Pilot Melter. This work was conducted under a corresponding Test Specification and Test Plan.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Alternative scenarios utilizing nonterrestrial resources
A collection of alternative scenarios that are enabled or substantially enhanced by the utilization of nonterrestrial resources is provided. We take a generalized approach to scenario building so that our report will have value in the context of whatever goals are eventually chosen. Some of the topics covered include the following: lunar materials processing; asteroid mining; lunar resources; construction of a large solar power station; solar dynamic power for the space station; reduced gravity; mission characteristics and options; and tourism.
Eldred, Charles H.↗
"Green Planet Architecture"-A Methodology for Self-Sustainable Distributed Renewable Energy Ecosystems
This planet has been endowed with a host of natural mechanisms to keep the environment and climate in balance. Humans are now facing the need to restore this balance that has been upset in the past years because of a growing population and resource demands. To steer dependency away from freshwater crops and decrease environmental damage from humanity s fuel and energy demands, it is necessary to take advantage of the natural adaptive biomass resources that are already in place. Using methods of "Green Planet Architecture," based on compilations of current research and procedures, could lead to new forms of energy and fueling as well as new sources for food and feed. Green Planet Architecture involves climatic adaptive biomass; geospatial intelligence; agri- and aqua-culture life cycles; and soil, wetland, and shoreline restoration. Plants such as Salicornia, seashore mallow, castor, mangroves, and perhaps Moringa can be modified (naturally, model-assisted, or genetically) to thrive in salt water and brackish water or otherwise not arable conditions, making them potentially new crops that will not displace traditional farming. These fueling sources also have potential to be used in other rapid-growth industries, such as the aviation industry, that have incentive to move towards more sustainable fuel supplies. This report highlights an example of how synergistic development of biomass resources and geospatial intelligence high-performance computing capabilities can be focused to resolve potential drought-famine problems. These techniques provide a basis for future e-science-based discovery (and access) through technology that can be expanded to support global societal applications.
Saxena, Nikita T.↗
Carbon use efficiency diagnostics in Nannochloropsis salina
We report that carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) can be a significant resource input affecting the cost of algae biomass production on an industrial scale. Improvements in biofuel productivity therefore require characterization of CO 2 use efficiency (CUE). RuBisCO saturation with CO 2 is an important factor influencing biomass productivity. During CO2 fixation by RuBisCO, fractionation of carbon isotopes occurs, with preferential fixation of 12 CO 2 , resulting in assimilation of the lighter isotope in algae. This photosynthetic discrimination (Δ DIC-algae ), approximated by the difference between the δ 13 C of external medium and that of algae, is a function of the proportion of CO 2 fixed relative to supply. Δ DIC-algae has been applied to the study of photosynthesis in algae over the past few decades and we have adopted the tool to characterize improvements in conditions optimized for biofuel productivity, such as controlled photobioreactors. We report the use of Δ DIC-algae as a tool for characterizing CO 2 dynamics and RuBisCO saturation in Nannochloropsis salina CCMP 1776, a benchmark strain in algal biofuels research. We use Δ DIC-algae to describe the conditions under which RuBisCO saturation can be achieved to maximize biomass productivity. Finally, our results suggest that determination of Δ DIC-algae can provide important feedback to support engineering and cultural improvements that can impact carbon use efficiency and biomass productivity.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
Electricity Costs and Carbon Implications for CO 2 -to-Fuels in Selected Locations in 2030
With the growing interest in converting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to fuels and products to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions and extend carbon from biogenic and other sources, the development of carbon capture and utilization (CO2U) technologies and industry is crucial. The Markets, Resources, and Environmental and Energy Justice of CO 2 -to-Fuels Technologies (short title: MarkeRs & EEJ) project supports this goal by assessing the resource and market potential and infrastructure requirements for mid-term (-2030) and long-term (-2050) deployment of CO2U technologies. The overall project analyzes CO2U economic and resource requirements as well as sustainability and environmental and energy justice (EEJ) metrics. This report focuses on short-term (-2030) aspects of the project. It identifies three CO2U locations in the Midwestern United States and quantifies the costs for potential electricity resources and marginal emissions for each site in the near term (e.g., 2030). We focus on four electricity purchase options, including retail rate, physical power purchase agreement (PPA), financial PPA, and real-time pricing (RTP), for each of the three sites and consider potential policies such as production tax credits (PTCs). We also assess time-dependent hourly marginal electricity costs and the marginal emission rates using modeled scenarios from Cambium (Gagnon et al. 2021).The results of the analysis are expected to inform other projects within the U.S. Department of Energy's CO 2 -to-Fuels Consortium, especially the Economics and Sustainability of CO 2 Utilization Technologies with Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Analysis (TEA/LCA) project, led by Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratory and Ling Tao of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The project results are also expected to inform the investment and technology communities and policymakers at the U.S. Department of Energy, state, and regional levels and guide investment by government and industry in research and development portfolios.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
Application of Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates to Watersheds
This report documents work sponsored by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the RES project, “Application of Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates to Watersheds.” This project was implemented as part of the Probabilistic Flood Hazard Assessment (PFHA) Research Program. The objective of the PFHA Research Program is to develop tools and guidance on the use of PFHA methods to risk-inform NRC’s licensing of new facilities as well as licensing and oversight of currently operating facilities as they relate to flooding hazards. Many nuclear power plants (NPPs) are located on or near rivers so riverine flooding hazards need to be considered in their design and operation. Probabilistic riverine flood models are important tools for realistic assessment of flooding risks. However, these models require areal estimates of the depth, duration, and frequency of rainfall distributed over the watershed, which are not often available. Point precipitation frequency estimates are more widely available. For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published NOAA Atlas 14, which provides point precipitation frequency estimates for 5-minute through 60-day durations at average recurrence intervals of 1-year through 1,000-year. The research documented in this report addresses areal reduction factors (ARFs), which can be used to convert the widely available point precipitation frequency estimates, to estimates of areal precipitation frequency over a watershed. The most widely used ARF source is Technical Paper 29 (TP-29) published by the then U.S. Weather Bureau in 1958. However, both the methods and the underlying precipitation data used to produce TP-29 are seriously out of date. For example, due to the small gauge network available at the time of TP-29’s compilation, ARF estimates developed are only for watersheds smaller than about 400 square miles. Due to the relatively short record lengths of precipitation data available, frequency considerations could not be accurately determined. Other factors such as regional climate and seasonality were not addressed. Several newer methods have been published since TP-29 was developed and both the type and quantity of precipitation data have increased significantly, along with computational resources and analytical tools such as geographic information systems. This report reviewed and assessed the available precipitation products and methods for conducting ARF analysis. The work applied up-to-date precipitation data products and analysis methods with a novel watershed-based approach to investigate how ARF estimates vary across different methods, data sources, geographical locations, return periods, and seasons. The overall findings reported here regarding basic ARF trends are in line with other recent studies showing that ARFs decrease with increasing area, increase with increasing duration, and decrease with increasing return period. This study found significant differences among the available ARF methods. This work also found a strong geographical variability across different US hydrologic regions, suggesting that the ARF are specific to regional climate patterns and geographical characteristics and should not be applied arbitrarily to other locations. The results also reveal the importance of data record length, especially for high return level ARFs. The work reported in NUREG/CR-7271 will assist NRC staff in assessing different classes of ARF methods in conjunction with available rainfall data sets. It will also support the development of guidance for application of point precipitation data in PFHAs. It should be noted that the ARF values presented in this report for any location or region were developed for the purposes of comparing methods and investigating the factors that influence ARFs. They should not be considered official and should not be used in leu of a site-specific analysis.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
Adaptive variational quantum dynamics simulations with compressed circuits and fewer measurements
The adaptive variational quantum dynamics simulation (AVQDS) method performs real-time evolution of quantum states using automatically generated parametrized quantum circuits that often contain substantially fewer gates than Trotter circuits. Here we report an improved version of the method, which we call AVQDS(T), by porting the tiling efficient trial circuits with rotations implemented simultaneously technique. The algorithm adaptively adds layers of disjoint unitary gates to the ansatz circuit so as to keep the McLachlan distance, a measure of the accuracy of the variational dynamics, below a fixed threshold. Here we perform benchmark noiseless AVQDS(T) simulations of quench dynamics in local spin models and compare with an alternative adaptive variational approach on quantum resource requirement. Quantum dynamical simulations implementing realistic noise channels are also reported. Finally, we propose a way to substantially alleviate the measurement overhead of AVQDS(T) while maintaining high accuracy by synergistically integrating quantum circuit calculations on quantum processing units with classical calculations using, e.g., tensor networks to evaluate the quantum geometric tensor. We showcase that this approach enables AVQDS(T) to deliver more accurate results than simulations using a fixed ansatz of comparable final depth for a significant time duration with fewer quantum resources.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
Overcoming Challenges to Nuclear-Maritime Applications
This report is the fifth deliverable in a series of reports set forth by the Department of Energy (DOE), led by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), for the research award titled “Accelerating Commercial Maritime Demonstration Projects for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies.” The report highlights guidance to bridge the gaps between innovative nuclear technologies and their practical implementation in maritime environments. The previous reports discussed specific technical, economic and regulatory challenges that may be expected when developing and establishing advanced nuclear technologies for commercial maritime applications. This report supports the mission of the U.S. National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) to demonstrate projects with industry and acts as a resource for the various stakeholders associated with the development of novel applications for advanced reactors. The previous reports discuss the interest in nuclear technology applications for decarbonized energy and identify the potential demands in nuclear energy supply and price. The work in these reports supports the recently issued nuclear Executive Orders (EOs). Specifically, EO 14299, “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security”, and EO 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” by ensuring the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies; and increasing the deployment of new nuclear reactor technologies, such as Generation III+ and IV reactors, modular reactors, and microreactors to support America leading the commercialization of affordable and abundant nuclear energy.
22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
An Architectural Survey of the U12G Tunnel Historic District, Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in conjunction with the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO), proposes to demolish six buildings and three storage areas located at the U12g Tunnel portal area in Area 12 of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The buildings are 12-358 (Signal Vault); 12-201800 (Storage Quonset Hut); 12-202555 (Walker Shack); 12-868 (Pipe Assembly); 12-B100933 (Electrical Shop); 12-B100944 (Conference Room); and Storage Area 1; Storage Area 2; and Storage Area 3. The buildings and storage areas were selected for demolition as part of the DOE’s Real Property Efficiency Plan to reduce the footprint of unused and non-operational facilities on the NNSS. They are all vacant and have no proposed uses for current or upcoming NNSS missions. Demolition activities constitute an undertaking subject to review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 United States Code [USC] § 306101) and its implementing regulations, 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 800. Identification efforts began with resources proposed for demolition in federal Fiscal Year (FY) 23. Four buildings were proposed to be demolished in FY23 (12-358, 12-868, 12-201800, and 12-202555). These buildings and the U12g Tunnel Historic District (SHPO No. D444) were recorded in Identification, Evaluation, and Finding of Adverse Effect for the Proposed Demolition of Five Buildings in Area 12, Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada (Menocal et al. 2023). Identification efforts indicated three buildings (12-358, 12-201800, and 12-868) supported nuclear testing in the U12g Tunnel. The fourth building post-dated the use of U12g Tunnel for nuclear testing activities. The report recommended that three of the four buildings (12-358, 12-201800, 12-868) and the U12g Tunnel Historic District may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The report also found that the undertaking would have an adverse effect on the three buildings and on the historic district. The Nevada State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) concurred with the report’s findings (Reed 2023). The U12g Tunnel was determined eligible as a historic district under the Secretary of the Interior’s (SOI) Significance Criterion A, at the local level, in the context of the Cold War as an underground testing environment for the development of nuclear weapons and to assess the effects of a nuclear explosion on materials and equipment with a period of significance from 1959 to 1971. It was also determined eligible under Significance Criterion C for embodying the distinctive characters of a horizontal tunnel complex used for nuclear testing and as a significant and distinguishable entity. The three buildings were determined to be contributing elements of the district. The undertaking was expanded with the addition of two buildings and three storage areas proposed to be demolished and located within U12g Tunnel Historic District in FY24. These five resources (12-B100933, 12-B100944, and Storage Areas 1, 2, and 3) were recorded in Supplemental Identification, Evaluation, and Finding of Effect for Additional Proposed Demolition at U12g Tunnel, Area 12, Nevada national Security Site, Nye County, Nevada (Brannan et al. 2024). Identification efforts indicated that the two buildings and Storage Area 1 supported nuclear testing in the U12g Tunnel. Storage Area 1 and Storage Area 2 post-dated the nuclear testing activities at U12g Tunnel and were not recommended as contributing elements to the district. The report also found that the undertaking would have an adverse effect on the newly identified buildings and one storage area and on the historic district. The SHPO concurred that the expanded undertaking would result in adverse effects to historic properties (Reed 2025). To resolve these adverse effects, NNSA/NFO, in consultation with the SHPO, is following standard mitigation as stipulated in the 2024 Programmatic Agreement DE-GM58-22NA25554 Among the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Concerning the Protection of Historic Properties on the Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada (hereafter referred to as the NNSS PA). The standard mitigation measures are outlined in Appendix D of the NNSS PA. As such, this architectural survey has been prepared in accordance with Appendix D of the NNSS PA and follows the report format outlined in Appendix F. It includes a historic context that describes the district’s origin, history, and support functions, its significance in the context of nuclear testing on the NNSS, and identifies contributing and non-contributing elements within the district. The report is accompanied by Architectural Resource Assessment (ARA) forms for individual resources and a Historic District Resource Assessment (HDRA) for the U12g Tunnel Historic District. In total, this architectural report identified 32 primary resources within the district boundary. Six of the primary resources were previously identified as contributing elements. An additional 17 resources are recommended as contributing elements to the district for a total of 23 contributing elements. The other nine resources identified are recommended as non-contributing elements to the district.
12-201800↗
Gulf of Mexico Health & Air Quality Ii: Mapping Methane Emission Plumes Using Sunglint-Configured Imagery for Monitoring Offshore Oil and Gas Activity
Offshore oil and gas production in the United States is a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for nearly 30% of global oil and gas production. Methane venting and flaring are primary contributors to offshore emissions, and monitoring these activities is crucial for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Limited ground truthing and intermittent offshore satellite revisits make monitoring venting and flaring challenging. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) oversee offshore oil and gas activity but rely primarily on operator-reported data. The non-profit organization SkyTruth monitors natural resources like methane and identifies sources of fugitive emissions. By combining BOEM and BSEE’s operational data along with observations from Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 9 OLI-2, and PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (PRISMA), the team further identified ultra-emitter point sources in the Gulf of Mexico using sunglint-configured imagery. We quantified these plume emission rates using the methodology from Varon et al. (2020). The team found three plumes in the Gulf of Mexico occurring between 2020 and 2022 using Sentinel-2 MSI and Landsat 9 OLI-2 imagery, in addition to the single plume identified by the Gulf of Mexico Health & Air Quality I team, and successfully quantified three plumes. Our statistical retrieval of three PRISMA images tasked over areas of interest yielded no methane plumes, despite a successful test of a known plume in Assam, India. These analyses serve as a proof of concept for the utility of remote sensing for methane emission monitoring offshore, which can complement regulator emission inventories and validate self-reported operator records.
sunglint↗
AgRISTARS: Agriculture and resources inventory surveys through aerospace remote sensing
The rationale, objectives, participants, and approach of the AgRISTARS program are described. Progress is reported in activities related to early warning and crop condition assessment; inventory technology development (formerly foreign commodity production forecasting); yield model development; supporting research; soil moisture; renewable resources inventory; domestic crops and land cover; and conservation and pollution. Emphasis is on technological highlights.
Source record↗
Reassessing Double-Ended Guillotine Break Requirements: Evidence-Based Analysis of Regulatory Assumptions After Five Decades of Nuclear Operation
After five decades of nuclear power operation encompassing more than 20,000 reactor-years across 35 countries and 647 reactors, zero double-ended guillotine breaks (DEGBs) have been documented in commercial reactor coolant systems—despite DEGB being the fundamental design-basis assumption driving Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) sizing, structural protection requirements, and containment design specifications. This report examines the basis for DEGB requirements in nuclear power plant design. The DEGB postulate assumes the instantaneous, complete circumferential severance of the largest diameter pipes in reactor coolant systems, driving major design requirements under 10 Code of Federal Regulations 50.46, General Design Criterion 4 and containment design specifications. The United States (4,880 reactor-years) and France (2,505 reactor-years) contribute the largest operational datasets. Probabilistic assessments estimate direct DEGB occurrence probabilities with extremely low event frequencies, far below the 10-5/reactor-year thresholds typically used to define non-credible events in nuclear-safety analyses; i.e., events with probability this low fall into beyond-design-basis events. Current material-science knowledge demonstrates that the ductile steel materials used in nuclear piping systems exhibit stable crack-growth behavior fundamentally incompatible with instantaneous severance. International regulatory experience, particularly Germany’s comprehensive break-preclusion implementation, and successful leak-before-break (LBB) applications in almost all of U.S. pressurized water reactor units validate that alternatives can maintain safety performance while reducing economic burden. Current DEGB protection systems impose estimated lifetime costs of hundreds of millions of dollars per unit, over the life of a plant across the nuclear industry (including ongoing costs), representing substantial resource allocation toward scenarios with extremely low probability. Although this report acknowledges uncertainties regarding long-term aging effects, potential synergistic degradation mechanisms, and site-specific seismic considerations that warrant continued evaluation as regulatory policy evolves, there remains no documented evidence that a DEGB has occurred as a consequence of the conditions or mechanisms described in this report. This report acknowledges the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) recent efforts—outlined in the draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) NRC-DSS-ISG-2025-XX (“Treatment of Certain Loss-of-Coolant Accident Locations as Beyond-Design-Basis Accidents Draft Interim Staff Guidance”)—to reduce overly conservative requirements for large-break loss of coolant accidents through technical justifications and exemptions. However, extensive operating experience and validated methodologies—such as LBB and in-service inspection programs—demonstrate that the probability of a DEGB in reactor coolant-loop piping is extremely low, even under seismic conditions. The authors and reviewers of this report recommend that DEGB be removed as a design-basis event through formal rulemaking, rather than case-by-case exemptions, to better reflect credible failure modes, align with current data, and align with modern, risk-informed safety analysis.
22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Smart Grid Status and Metrics Report Appendices
A smart grid uses digital power control and communication technology to improve the reliability, security, flexibility, and efficiency of the electric system, from large generation through the delivery systems to electricity consumers and a growing number of distributed generation and storage resources. To convey progress made in achieving the vision of a smart grid, this report uses a set of six characteristics derived from the National Energy Technology Laboratory Modern Grid Strategy. The Smart Grid Status and Metrics Report defines and examines 21 metrics that collectively provide insight into the grid’s capacity to embody these characteristics. This appendix presents papers covering each of the 21 metrics identified in Section 2.1 of the Smart Grid Status and Metrics Report. These metric papers were prepared in advance of the main body of the report and collectively form its informational backbone.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
Integration of DER Adoption Forecasting into Distribution Planning: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-11-00430 (Project H)
The objective of this project is to improve distributed energy resources (DER) technology, time, and locational impact analysis by incorporating customer adoption intentions and preferences into distribution planning and operations. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shall collaborate with EPRI staff to contribute to the development of methodology, literature review, analysis, and write-up for two sections of a report "Identification and Overview of Methods for Mapping DER Adoption Forecasts” and “Comparative Analysis of Methods for Mapping DER Adoption Forecasts."
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
CMS readiness for multi-core workload scheduling
In the present run of the LHC, CMS data reconstruction and simulation algorithms benefit greatly from being executed as multiple threads running on several processor cores. The complexity of the Run 2 events requires parallelization of the code to reduce the memory-per- core footprint constraining serial execution programs, thus optimizing the exploitation of present multi-core processor architectures. The allocation of computing resources for multi-core tasks, however, becomes a complex problem in itself. The CMS workload submission infrastructure employs multi-slot partitionable pilots, built on HTCondor and GlideinWMS native features, to enable scheduling of single and multi-core jobs simultaneously. This provides a solution for the scheduling problem in a uniform way across grid sites running a diversity of gateways to compute resources and batch system technologies. This paper presents this strategy and the tools on which it has been implemented. The experience of managing multi-core resources at the Tier-0 and Tier-1 sites during 2015, along with the deployment phase to Tier-2 sites during early 2016 is reported. The process of performance monitoring and optimization to achieve efficient and flexible use of the resources is also described.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
WE-G-BRA-01: Patient Safety and Treatment Quality Improvement Through Incident Learning: Experience of a Non-Academic Proton Therapy Center
Purpose: Incident learning has been proven to improve patient safety and treatment quality in conventional radiation therapy. However, its application in proton therapy has not been reported yet to our knowledge. In this study, we report our experience in developing and implementation of an in-house incident learning system. Methods: An incident learning system was developed based on published principles and tailored for our clinical practice and available resource about 18 months ago. The system includes four layers of error detection and report: 1) dosimetry peer review; 2) physicist plan quality assurance (QA); 3) treatment delivery issue on call and record; and 4) other incident report. The first two layers of QA and report were mandatory for each treatment plan through easy-to-use spreadsheets that are only accessible by the dosimetry and physicist departments. The treatment delivery issues were recorded case by case by the on call physicist. All other incidents were reported through an online incident report system, which can be anonymous. The incident report includes near misses on planning and delivery, process deviation, machine issues, work flow and documentation. Periodic incident reviews were performed. Results: In total, about 116 errors were reported through dosimetry review, 137 errors through plan QA, 83 treatment issues through physics on call record, and 30 through the online incident report. Only 8 incidents (2.2%) were considered to have a clinical impact to patients, and the rest of errors were either detected before reaching patients or had negligible dosimetric impact (<5% dose variance). Personnel training & process improvements were implemented upon periodic incident review. Conclusion: An incident learning system can be helpful in personnel training, error reduction, and patient safety and treatment quality improvement. The system needs to be catered for each clinic’s practice and available resources. Incident and knowledge sharing among proton centers are encouraged.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
Retrofitting Word Embeddings with the UMLS Metathesaurus for Clinical Information Extraction
Deep learning has surged in popularity and proven to be effective for various artificial intelligence applications including information extraction from cancer pathology reports. Since word representation is a core unit that enables deep learning algorithms to understand words and be able to perform NLP, this representation must include as much information as possible to help these algorithms achieve high classification performance. Therefore, in this work in addition to the distributional information of words in large sized corpora, we use UMLS vocabulary resources to enrich the vector space representation of words with the semantic relations between words. These resources provide many terminologies pertaining to cancer. The refined word embeddings are used with a convolutional neural (CNN) model to extract four data elements from cancer pathology reports; ICD-O-3 tumor topography codes, tumor laterality, behavior, and histological grade. We observed that using UMLS vocabulary resources to enrich word embeddings of CNN models consistently outperformed CNN models without pre-training word embeddings and even with pre-trained word embeddings on a domain specific corpus across all four tasks. The results show marginal improvement on the laterality task, but a significant improvement on the other tasks, especially for the macro-f score. Specifically, the improvements are 3%, 13%, and 15% for tumor site, histological grade, and behavior tasks, respectively. This approach is encouraging to enrich word embeddings with more clinical data resources to be used for information abstraction tasks from clinical pathology reports.
Alawad, Mohammed↗