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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 1,171 records · Page 65
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

High-Temperature Air-Cooled Power Electronics Thermal Design: Annual Progress Report

Power electronics that use high-temperature devices pose a challenge for thermal management. With the devices running at higher temperatures and having a smaller footprint, the heat fluxes increase from previous power electronic designs. This project overview presents an approach to examine and design thermal management strategies through cooling technologies to keep devices within temperature limits, dissipate the heat generated by the devices and protect electrical interconnects and other components for inverter, converter, and charger applications. This analysis, validation, and demonstration intends to take a multi-scale approach over the device, module, and system levels to reduce size, weight, and cost.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Regulatory Implications of Embedded Grid Energy Storage

Electricity is unique among commodities in that its supply chain was developed without a storage component. Every other resource commodity has the ability to store excess quantities built into its supply chain – in the form of granaries, warehouses, reservoirs, etc. This embedded storage creates a buffer for mismatches between supply and demand, stabilizing prices and protecting customers. Recent technological advances in cost-competitive energy storage technologies that are scalable and flexible have made the concept of embedded electrical storage feasible, but several regulatory questions remain. This paper summarizes energy regulatory structures in the U.S. and the implications that they would have for embedded storage on the electric grid. Regulatory challenges for embedded storage include the lack of underlying standards, inclusion in planning processes, ownership models, compensation, and metrics. Two possible pathways forward are explored: an incremental one including regulatory guidance regarding the evaluation of embedded storage in existing planning processes, and a complex one involving the revision of existing reliability standards or the development of a new standard specific to embedded storage.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Collaborative Research: Vlasov-Maxwell Simulations to Resolve Electron Heating and Dissipation, in Quasi-Perpendicular Shocks (Final Report)

Collisionless shocks are a grand challenge problem in plasma physics and have been the subject of study for more than six decades. Shocks are ubiquitous phenomena in the universe and are responsible for transforming high energy and momentum flows into thermal energy and energetic particles. Understanding how shocks operate is of primary importance to understand the sun-earth coupling, protecting manned missions and spacecrafts from high energy particles, inertial confinement fusion, and radiation observed from astrophysical plasmas, such as supernova remnants and astrophysical jets. A major unanswered question on this frontier is, how does a collisionless plasma transform flow energy and momentum into electron thermal energy? Many potential mechanisms have been proposed to perform the conversion between flow and thermal energy in a collisionless plasma, but the answer has been elusive. To solve the mystery, non-relativistic perpendicular and quasi-perpendicular shocks are studied via a coordinated approach employing cutting-edge numerical simulations with the continuum kinetic code Gkeyll and spacecraft observations supplied by NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. In both sets of data, we employ novel techniques to identify how and where energy is exchanged between electromagnetic fields and plasma particles. By combining cutting-edge spacecraft data and numerical simulations with these diagnostics, we have been able to identify some of the primary mechanisms responsible electron heating and dissipation in heliospheric shocks. In addition to electron dynamics, we have complete access to proton simulation and in situ data, enabling us to characterize proton heating and acceleration in quasi-perpendicular shocks. Many astrophysical quasi-perpendicular shocks have similar parameters to those in this study, including supernova remnants and shocks in galaxy clusters. Additionally, the simulation code, Gkeyll, and associated analysis scripts are openly available for community use. This award has supported a collaborative effort between Princeton University, the University of Arizona - Tucson, and the University of Maryland - College Park. The award funded three early career scientists, including the funding and training of one female postdoctoral researcher, who was involved in all aspects of the MMS data analysis and some portions of the simulation analysis.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

SCCOUT: Surveying for Categorization and Control of Organism in Unwelcome Territory

Advancements in the fields of science, technology, and medicine have contributed largely to the growth of society over the last century. Thanks to these discoveries, all corners of the planet are connected both digitally and physically. Progress in the field of medicine has led to people living longer, fuller lives and a general increase in global population. Awareness of our world’s changing climate and the effects that has on local and global ecosystems has spurred great efforts to protect the environment. These discoveries along with many others have helped our world grow in a myriad of ways; however, certain efforts in agriculture, natural resource management, and ecosystem management have not scaled to accommodate this growth. Increasing prevalence and ease of dissemination of invasive plants and animals, diseases, and changing ecological conditions pose significant challenges to biodiversity, ecosystem health, and agricultural productivity. Moreover, as the world population grows, there are more people to feed and less viable farmland to produce food for them. Despite the increasing prevalence of these issues, methods for addressing and tracking them have stayed relatively the same for at least the last several decades.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

The International Nuclear Material Transport Security Regime: A. Multi-Modal Tapestry of Conventions and Agreements

The international legal framework for transporting nuclear material is complex. The tapestry of conventions and agreements in place vary based on the material in transport, the mode or modes of transport used, and the location where the transport is taking place. The instruments range in scale from the international Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities and the Amendment to regional conventions and agreements such as those for rail transport (RID), inland waterway (ADN), and road (ADR). As part of their international commitments under the various conventions and agreements, signatories are required to abide by and harmonize their regulations to these international instruments. The challenge for Competent Authorities in drafting regulations consistent with a Member States obligation under international law can be complex. In addition to ensuring their own authority to draft regulations consistent with these conventions, a Competent Authority may need to coordinate with other ministries, departments, or agencies in mapping the various conventions, their annexes, the requirements therein, and understanding how to develop regulations that align both to international law and domestic law. This paper addresses each of these conventions and agreements; providing a summary description of what each means to individual entities that are transporting nuclear material, provide the total number of States Party to each, provide a graphical framework for unpacking the legal complexities at the international level to assist users and competent authorities in orienting themselves to the international instruments and how they apply to specific shipments. A detailed evaluation has been made of the various international and regional conventions and agreements that help govern the security during the international and in some cases the domestic transport of nuclear material, therein providing a tool for understanding the international transport regime for moving these materials.

Fialkoff, Marc↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-J-113: Multi-Atlas Based Automatic Organ Segmentation for Lung Radiotherapy Planning

Purpose: Normal organ segmentation is one time-consuming and labor-intensive step for lung radiotherapy treatment planning. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of a multi-atlas based segmentation approach for automatic organs at risk (OAR) delineation. Methods: Fifteen Lung stereotactic body radiation therapy patients were randomly selected. Planning CT images and OAR contours of the heart - HT, aorta - AO, vena cava - VC, pulmonary trunk - PT, and esophagus – ES were exported and used as reference and atlas sets. For automatic organ delineation for a given target CT, 1) all atlas sets were deformably warped to the target CT, 2) the deformed sets were accumulated and normalized to produce organ probability density (OPD) maps, and 3) the OPD maps were converted to contours via image thresholding. Optimal threshold for each organ was empirically determined by comparing the auto-segmented contours against their respective reference contours. The delineated results were evaluated by measuring contour similarity metrics: DICE, mean distance (MD), and true detection rate (TD), where DICE=(intersection volume/sum of two volumes) and TD = {1.0 - (false positive + false negative)/2.0}. Diffeomorphic Demons algorithm was employed for CT-CT deformable image registrations. Results: Optimal thresholds were determined to be 0.53 for HT, 0.38 for AO, 0.28 for PT, 0.43 for VC, and 0.31 for ES. The mean similarity metrics (DICE[%], MD[mm], TD[%]) were (88, 3.2, 89) for HT, (79, 3.2, 82) for AO, (75, 2.7, 77) for PT, (68, 3.4, 73) for VC, and (51,2.7, 60) for ES. Conclusion: The investigated multi-atlas based approach produced reliable segmentations for the organs with large and relatively clear boundaries (HT and AO). However, the detection of small and narrow organs with diffused boundaries (ES) were challenging. Sophisticated atlas selection and multi-atlas fusion algorithms may further improve the quality of segmentations.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Considerations for recovery of large areas of a nuclear facility for re-use - 15147

This paper highlights a number of factors an organization might consider for recovery of a facility, using a successful example from the UK. In 2013 a power failure led to the shutdown of the ventilation system that caused loose contamination to be deposited over large sections of man-accessible areas of plant after the evacuation of personnel. The successful initiation of emergency Command and Control arrangements during the Response phase, saw several key responders brought together to offer technical direction across many disciplines. The actions of the Command and Control unit prevented any further spread contamination to other areas of the facility and any external release. This enabled the return of the plant to an operational status which forms an important mission enabler for the site hazard reduction programme. Intervention at an early stage during the Response phase of the incident saw the cessation of traditional dilute chemical wet decontamination approach that would otherwise leave a legacy of slow leaching contamination; to that of containment and ultimate removal of loose contamination using strippable coatings. Doing so established a more rapid and reliably 'clean' access or pathway into the plant to establish the full extent of the situation. The scale and scope of the decontamination requirement was steadily revealed through a number of controlled re-entries to the plant. A number of other techniques were considered and employed to address the different areas making use of available plant resources to deliver the successful 'self-help' recovery of the plant using multi-disciplinary teams. As Response switched to Recovery, it was important to set out and agree which strategic option should be adopted to return the facility to normal operation. Equally, it was necessary to verify which equipment had been affected by the power outage and repair as required. Furthermore, equipment with designated safety functions had to be maintained alongside the Recovery activities. A careful balance of priorities demanded an unparalleled depth of plant knowledge to address this, whilst still keeping site and external stakeholders informed. The engagement by the plant workforce to take on the decontamination challenge to enable recovery of their plant supported by other teams formed a critical step in the speed of recovery. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2012

Physical Protection of Spent Fuel Shipments: Resolution of Stakeholder Concerns Through Rulemaking - 12284

In 1999, the State of Nevada brought its concerns about physical protection of current spent nuclear fuel (SNF) shipments, and future SNF shipments to a federal repository, before the NRC in a 1999 petition for rulemaking (PRM-73-10). In October 2010, the NRC published a rulemaking decision which would significantly strengthen physical protection of SNF in transit. The newest articulation of the rule (10 CFR 73.37) incorporates regulatory clarifications and security enhancements requested in Nevada's 1999 petition for rulemaking, codifies the findings of the Nuclear NRC and DOE consequence analyses into policy guidance documents and brings forward into regulations the agency and licensee experience gained since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Although at present DOE SNF shipments would continue to be exempt from these NRC regulations, Nevada considers the rule to constitute a largely satisfactory resolution to stakeholder concerns raised in the original petition and in subsequent comments submitted to the NRC. This paper reviews the process of regulatory changes, assesses the specific improvements contained in the new rules and briefly describes the significance of the new rule in the context of a future national nuclear waste management program. Nevada's petition for rulemaking led to a generally satisfactory resolution of the State's concerns. The decade plus timeframe from petition to rulemaking conclusion saw a sea change in many aspects of the relevant issues - perhaps most importantly the attacks on 9/11 led to the recognition by regulatory bodies that a new threat environment exists wherein shipments of SNF and HLW pose a viable target for human initiated events. The State of Nevada has always considered security a critical concern for the transport of these highly radioactive materials. This was one of the primary reasons for the original rulemaking petition and subsequent advocacy by Nevada on related issues. NRC decisions on the majority of the concerns expressed in the petition, additional developments by other regulatory bodies and the change in how the United States sees threats to the homeland - all of these produced a satisfactory resolution through the rulemaking process. While not all of the concerns expressed by Nevada were addressed in the proposed rule and significant challenges face any programmatic shipment campaign in the future, the lesson learned on this occasion is that stakeholder concerns can be resolved through rulemaking. If DOE would engage with stakeholders on its role in transport of SNF and HLW under the NWPA, these concerns would be better addressed. Specifically the attempts by DOE to resist transportation and security regulations now considered necessary by the NRC for the adequate protection of the shipments of highly radioactive materials, these DOE efforts seem ill advised. One clear lesson learned from this successful rulemaking petition process is that the system of stakeholder input can work to better the regulatory environment. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

A laboratory-scale process for producing dilithium beryllium tetrafluoride (FLiBe) with dissolved uranium tetrafluoride

Flibe Energy, Incorporated (FEI)'s conceptual Lithium Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) incorporates a chemical processing facility aimed at recovering uranium and other valuable volatile radionuclides while managing harmful radionuclides from the used fuel. The fuel utilized in this reactor is a combination of dilithium beryllium tetrafluoride (Li 2 BeF 4 or FLiBe) and uranium tetrafluoride (UF 4 ), (FLiBe/U). FEI's plan involves extracting the uranium and other valuable volatile fluoride-forming radionuclides using nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ). To facilitate laboratory-scale testing of uranium extraction using NF 3 and address the toxicity and physical hazards associated with beryllium and beryllium fluoride (BeF 2 ), we used a two-step process to prepare the simulated fuel salt. The first step entailed thermally decomposing ammonium beryllium tetrafluoride [(NH 4 ) 2 BeF 4 ] (ABeF) through a nominal 3-step process, combined with appropriate amounts of lithium fluoride (LiF) and UF 4 , resulting in the formation of beryllium fluoride (BeF 2 ). In the second step, the mixture was repeatedly melted and frozen at the melting point of FLiBe to prepare the eutectic FLiBe with dissolved UF 4 . Although the concept appears straightforward, the production of FLiBe/U involved various challenges. These challenges included transporting the gaseous decomposition products of ABeF, hydrogen fluoride (HF) and ammonia (NH 3 ), while preventing the formation of ammonium fluoride (NH 4 F). Additionally, it was necessary to control the reaction between the higher-than-anticipated water content in the commercial ABeF with NH 3 , HF, and the condensed NH 4 F, protect UF 4 from forming an unknown black compound, select suitable structural materials to mitigate fluoride corrosion, address the risks associated with beryllium toxicity through equipment design and operational protocols, and monitor process conditions. This article provides an account of the thermal decomposition chemistry observed in the commercial ABeF, describes the FLiBe/U production apparatus, describes the experiences and process refinements developed to prepare FLiBe/U, and presents our characterizations of prepared FLiBe/U.

Ammonium beryllium fluoride thermal decomposition↗
DOE OSTI2026

High-Voltage DC MULTI-terminal SIMulation (HVDC MULTISIM): Technical Program Summary

Expansion of the power grid in the USA is essential to fulfilling the rising energy demand of the country. In particular, the transmission grid, a network of electrical energy corridors that enable the flow of large amounts of energy from the point of generation to the point of consumption, needs significant expansion to cater to this growth of electrification. The current infrastructure is also dated, and any new transmission corridor should be based on a vision of building a modern infrastructure that is futureproof. High voltage DC (HVDC) transmission technology falls in this category: it is the most economical way to build large transmission lines and relies on sophisticated electronics and flexible controls, rather than just passive components like switchgear and transformers. This project is aimed at establishing the technical and economic feasibility of a network of HVDC lines that are interconnected to form a multi-terminal DC network. HVDC transmission is not a new technology and United States has a number of such lines; however, these are point to point transmissions and do not form a DC grid. Modeling and analyzing DC grids is challenging since there are no established modeling tools and the traditional ways of modeling AC grids fall short of providing the fidelity required the fast dynamics of the DC grid. This project aims to build a software-in-the-loop simulator for a multi-terminal HVDC grid, called MULTISIM and, establish new control and protection algorithms to operate such a connected DC system. NLR, a key partner, established the core framework of the MULTISIM simulator and validated its functionality. The GE Vernova team, created a full-scale model of a four-terminal HVDC network using PSCAD (Power Systems Computer Aided Design) software and established the baseline performance of the system during normal and fault operation. The project was started on 10/12024 with a kick-off meeting held on 12/11/2024 and ran through two quarters till termination. All the tasks, milestones and deliverables during this period were met. Several interim reports detailing the various tasks were submitted. The following sections provide details on the completed tasks till the project pause and termination after Q2.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

A System for Standardizing and Combining U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Emissions and Waste Inventory Data

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) provides databases that agglomerate data provided by companies or states reporting emissions, releases, wastes generated, and other activities to meet statutory requirements. These databases, often referred to as inventories, can be used for a wide variety of environmental reporting and modeling purposes to characterize conditions in the United States. Yet, users are often challenged to find, retrieve, and interpret these data due to the unique schemes employed for data management, which could result in erroneous estimations or double-counting of emissions. To address these challenges, a system called Standardized Emission and Waste Inventories (StEWI) has been created. The system consists of four python modules that provide rapid access to USEPA inventory data in standard formats and permit filtering and combination of these inventory data. When accessed through StEWI, reported emissions of carbon dioxide to air and ammonia to water are reduced approximately two- and four-fold, respectively, to avoid duplicate reporting. StEWI will greatly facilitate the use of USEPA inventory data in chemical release and exposure modeling and life cycle assessment tools, among other things. To date, StEWI has been used to build the recent USEEIO model and the baseline electricity life cycle inventory database for the Federal LCA Commons.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Resilience Design Patterns: A Structured Approach to Resilience at Extreme Scale

Reliability is a serious concern for future extreme-scale high-performance computing (HPC) systems. Projections based on the current generation of HPC systems and technology roadmaps suggest the prevalence of very high fault rates in future systems. While the HPC community has developed various resilience solutions, application-level techniques as well as system-based solutions, the solution space remains fragmented. There are no formal methods and metrics to integrate the various HPC resilience techniques into composite solutions, nor are there methods to holistically evaluate the adequacy and efficacy of such solutions in terms of their protection coverage, and their performance \& power efficiency characteristics. Additionally, few of the current approaches are portable to newer architectures and software environments that will be deployed on future systems. In this paper, we develop a structured approach to the design, evaluation and optimization of HPC resilience using the concept of design patterns. A design pattern is a general repeatable solution to a commonly occurring problem. We identify the problems caused by various types of faults, errors and failures in HPC systems and the techniques used to deal with these events. Each well-known solution that addresses a specific HPC resilience challenge is described in the form of a pattern. We develop a complete catalog of such resilience design patterns, which may be used by system architects, system software and tools developers, application programmers, as well as users and operators as essential building blocks when designing and deploying resilience solutions. We also develop a design framework that enhances a designer's understanding the opportunities for integrating multiple patterns across layers of the system stack and the important constraints during implementation of the individual patterns. It is also useful for defining mechanisms and interfaces to coordinate flexible fault management across hardware and software components. The resilience patterns and the design framework also enable exploration and evaluation of design alternatives and support optimization of the cost-benefit trade-offs among performance, protection coverage, and power consumption of resilience solutions. Here, the overall goal of this work is to establish a systematic methodology for the design and evaluation of resilience technologies in extreme-scale HPC systems that keep scientific applications running to a correct solution in a timely and cost-efficient manner despite frequent faults, errors, and failures of various types.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Limitations of traditional tools for beyond design basis external hazard PRA

Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) is being used increasingly by the nuclear industry for safety during normal operations as well as for the protection against external hazards. Computation of total risk in an external hazard PRA is dependent on hazard assessment, fragility assessment, and systems analysis. A systems analysis for propagation of component fragilities is conducted using event and fault trees. The event and fault trees for an actual power plant can be fairly large in size, which imposes computational challenges. Hence, certain assumptions are employed for computational efficiency. These assumptions typically represent the conditions imposed during the design basis (DB) scenario. The traditional PRA tools based on these assumptions are also widely applied to perform risk assessment in the context of beyond design basis (BDB) scenarios. However, some of these assumptions may not be valid for certain BDB scenarios. In addition, the probability of dependent failures also increases in BDB scenarios due to common cause failures (CCF) which usually results from design modifications, human errors, etc. In this manuscript, a simple and a relatively more complex illustrative examples are used to show the limitation of these assumptions in the numerical quantification of risk for the case of BDB conditions. Case studies with CCF events across multiple fault trees are also presented to illustrate the effect of these assumptions when traditional approach is used in BDB risk assessment. It is shown that the assumptions are valid for the case of DB conditions but may lead to excessively conservative risk estimates in the case of BDB conditions. Finally, a Bayesian network based top-down algorithm is proposed as an alternative tool for accurate numerical quantification of total risk in systems analysis.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-764: Track Repeating Algorithm for Proton Therapy Applied to Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy for Head-And-Neck Patients

Purpose: To determine the suitability of fast Monte Carlo techniques for dose calculation in particle therapy based on track-repeating algorithm for Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy, IMPT. The application of this technique will make possible detailed retrospective studies of large cohort of patients, which may lead to a better determination of Relative Biological Effects from the analysis of patient data. Methods: A cohort of six head-and-neck patients treated at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with IMPT were utilized. The dose distributions were calculated with the standard Treatment Plan System, TPS, MCNPX, GEANT4 and FDC, a fast track-repeating algorithm for proton therapy for the verification and the patient plans. FDC is based on a GEANT4 database of trajectories of protons in a water. The obtained dose distributions were compared to each other utilizing the g-index criteria for 3mm-3% and 2mm-2%, for the maximum spatial and dose differences. The γ-index was calculated for voxels with a dose at least 10% of the maximum delivered dose. Dose Volume Histograms are also calculated for the various dose distributions. Results: Good agreement between GEANT4 and FDC is found with less than 1% of the voxels with a γ-index larger than 1 for 2 mm-2%. The agreement between MCNPX with FDC is within the requirements of clinical standards, even though it is slightly worse than the comparison with GEANT4.The comparison with TPS yielded larger differences, what is also to be expected because pencil beam algorithm do not always performed well in highly inhomogeneous areas like head-and-neck. Conclusion: The good agreement between a track-repeating algorithm and a full Monte Carlo for a large cohort of patients and a challenging, site like head-and-neck, opens the path to systematic and detailed studies of large cohorts, which may yield better understanding of biological effects.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

MO-B-BRC-00: Prostate HDR Treatment Planning - Considering Different Imaging Modalities

Brachytherapy has proven to be an effective treatment option for prostate cancer. Initially, prostate brachytherapy was delivered through permanently implanted low dose rate (LDR) radioactive sources; however, high dose rate (HDR) temporary brachytherapy for prostate cancer is gaining popularity. Needle insertion during prostate brachytherapy is most commonly performed under ultrasound (U/S) guidance; however, treatment planning may be performed utilizing several imaging modalities either in an intra- or post-operative setting. During intra-operative prostate HDR, the needles are imaged during implantation, and planning may be performed in real time. At present, the most common imaging modality utilized for intra-operative prostate HDR is U/S. Alternatively, in the post-operative setting, following needle implantation, patients may be simulated with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Each imaging modality and workflow provides its share of benefits and limitations. Prostate HDR has been adopted in a number of cancer centers across the nation. In this educational session, we will explore the role of U/S, CT, and MRI in HDR prostate brachytherapy. Example workflows and operational details will be shared, and we will discuss how to establish a prostate HDR program in a clinical setting. Learning Objectives: Review prostate HDR techniques based on the imaging modality Discuss the challenges and pitfalls introduced by the three imagebased options for prostate HDR brachytherapy Review the QA process and learn about the development of clinical workflows for these imaging options at different institutions.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Research Reactors Division Infrastructure Investment Plan for the High Flux Isotope Reactor

The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) is a unique national asset. Operational for nearly 60 years, continued investment into the aging infrastructure is necessary to ensure operation for another 6 decades. Additionally, growing missions require HFIR as well as important upgrades. Consequently, carefully integrated planning is required to ensure that infrastructure investments are timely executed to ensure long-term, reliable operation of HFIR. Concerns about challenges to the operational reliability of HFIR resulted in a recommendation from the 2023 Operations Review by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences that a HFIR management strategy be developed to address the infrastructure needs. This report defines the investment needs, which are evolving as new upgrade efforts are better defined. HFIR is part of the three-source strategy within the Neutron Sciences Directorate (NScD) and contributes to the five strategic science areas outlined in the NScD 10 Year Strategic Science Plan: quantum materials, soft matter, materials and engineering, chemistry, and biosciences. Fundamental to this strategy are three core values: operational excellence, responsible stewardship, and servant leadership. These values guide our mission of safe and reliable operation of the reactor and require a strong and just nuclear safety culture, a solemn respect for responsible care of the facility, good workforce development, robust procedures and processes, an effective communication strategy, world-class asset management, a determined customer focus, and a commitment to protecting the environment, the safety and health of the public and our people, and the quality of work performed within our facility. These principles are all essential to operate HFIR at a world-class level. The Research Reactors Division (RRD) will lead a new era of neutron science and isotope production at HFIR through responsible and purposeful leadership and unwavering support of the science community. The approach outlined in this plan highlights the direction leadership is taking to ensure that HFIR is ready to support the science challenges and national needs of the future and that the United States maintains world leadership in neutron sciences. The plan is in alignment with the DOE’s desire to continue operating HFIR and with the NScD strategic science goals for the future. HFIR is an aging facility with numerous infrastructure challenges and needs. It has an aging workforce in relation to the general population of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with many expected retirements over the next 5–10 years. With an increase in work scope caused by changing national priorities and science goals, several critical hires have been identified. To manage HFIR’s infrastructure needs, a prioritized list of equipment upgrades has been identified along with an analysis of future staffing requirements. A desire to operate HFIR at eight cycles per year will necessarily require some significant changes to procedures and processes currently in place as well as targeted staffing additions. Many of the equipment upgrades identified in this plan will significantly increase the reliability of the plant, thus contributing to the effort to reach the goal of safely operating eight cycles per year. A plan to attain eight-cycle operation is being prepared in parallel with the activities identified in this plan, although the actions identified to satisfy both plans will overlap. This plan identifies new infrastructure needs—for both plant equipment and staffing—thus necessitating formulation of future budget requests to fund the increased work scope and improvement activities. Some activities are currently being scheduled with the expectation that funding will be received. Any delays to funding or reductions of funding from the identified cost estimations will directly and negatively affect the plan’s implementation.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A high-performance organic cathode customized for sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) have become increasingly attractive recently due to their better safety and prospective long-term stability compared with conventional liquid batteries. However, obtaining a sustainable cathode candidate to match the solid electrolyte with regards to operating potential, chemical compatibility, and mechanical property is still an open challenge. In this work, the chemical incompatibility of quinone-based active materials and sulfide-based electrolyte were unveiled for the first time through a heteroconjugate addition reaction mechanism. To develop a quinone cathode customized for sulfide-based ASSBs, poly-(anthraquinonyl sulfide)-graphene (PAQS-G) nanocomposite was reported. The stable polymer framework of PAQS can protect the quinone redox center by preventing nucleophilic attack from sulfide-based solid electrolytes. The graphene additives can ameliorate redox kinetics and improve active material utilization. The PAQS-G cathode exhibited a specific capacity of ~178 mAh g -1 and a high material utilization of ~79%. Excellent cycling stability was achieved with 94 % capacity after 200 cycles in lithium batteries and 95.5 % capacity after 300 cycles in sodium batteries at 0.1C rate, respectively. A promising potential for energy storage applications was demonstrated.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Advances in catalytic production processes of biomass-derived vinyl monomers

Plastic industries currently source the majority of monomers from crude oil substances. Although we have witnessed a significant interest of companies in the utilization of sustainable feedstock materials for bio-based compound synthesis in the past decade, the transition to photosynthetic or chemosynthetic plant-based production in a circular carbon economy is largely slow due to complex biomass processing, costs and related reaction factors. The upgrade of the separated platform chemicals with a deeper supporting understanding of processes, models and a root–cause analysis about the underlying distribution challenges of engineered transformation mechanisms, catalyzed conversion pathways and selectivity would be beneficial to advance applied scientific development, bio-refining and manufacturing output amount. This review provides a summary, assessment and perspective for three important polymer-forming vinyl molecules, i.e. acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and styrene. These provide a backbone to produce acrylates, polystyrene, resins, rubbers, protective surface coatings, adhesives, textiles and other obtained copolymers. A succinct analytical overview on the thermo-catalytic intermediate routes for property-wise drop-in alternatives is presented. Sugars, acrolein, allyl alcohol, ethylbenzene, glycerol, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, isobutene, itaconic acid and lactic acid are considered as the main starting reactants. Catalysts span mixed metal oxides, silicates, native or impregnated zeolite frameworks (HBEA, HZSM, and MFI) and hetero-poly acids as well as homogeneous base hydroxides or platinum group metals, supported on carbon, alumina and sulfates. Finally, the article concludes with a brief state sum-up of the results, topics and opportunities for systematic future research or scaling.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗