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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 1,207 records · Page 67
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1981

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 29, April 1981

This bibliography lists 308 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1, 1981 and March 31, 1981. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1982

Earth Resources. A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 34, July 1982

This bibliography lists 567 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System between April 1, and June 30, 1982. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multi-system analysis of offshore geologic carbon storage: a review of open-source data science solutions

Geologic carbon storage projects are maturing worldwide and the footprint of deployment in the offshore is expanding. At present, there are ten projects in operation or that have been completed, more than 50 in construction and development, and dozens of characterization studies completed or underway. Offshore geologic carbon storage offers potential benefits over onshore geologic carbon storage. These offshore projects are generally remote in location, distant from population centers, and avoid complicated pore space rights while having abundant prospective storage potential. Some offshore fields targeted for carbon storage have comparatively fewer prior borehole penetrations except for areas that have been explored for petroleum production, minimizing potential issues such as pressure interference and infrastructure impacts. Yet offshore geologic carbon storage projects face distinctive technical and economic challenges, such as seafloor geohazards (e.g., seabed instability), expensive maritime transport, and meteorological-oceanographic conditions that can damage infrastructure and impact operations. Analytical capabilities and improved computational speeds have advanced engineering, earth and energy sciences in the wake of the arrival of modern data science over the last decade. These advancements have created an opportunity for integrated, multi-systems modeling approaches utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning that are no longer limited by computational issues. Analytical tools developed alongside this advancement in data science can be leveraged to calibrate the potential advantages and challenges of carbon storage operations in the offshore. New methods and approaches that incorporate data science to analyze multiple aspects of engineered and natural systems can provide insights that complement the characterization and onsite engineering that traditional commercial and operational software addresses. These new methods and approaches can potentially improve the outcome of energy operations and carbon storage. Providing multi-system, science-driven data analytics enhances the knowledge base that offshore developers, operators, and regulatory bodies may draw from to improve offshore site selection and operational efficiency. Here, we provide a brief synopsis of geologic carbon storage efforts to date, an overview of the engineered and natural systems involved in offshore geologic carbon storage, and a review of publicly available, open-source, offshore and/or carbon storage related data- and science-driven tools developed by 2010 or later that are suitable for screening and assessing regions for offshore geologic carbon storage.

artificial intelligence↗
NASA NTRS1992

Space Defense Initiative technologies and hardware can help resolve certain space exploration initiative weight and performance issues

The use of Space Defense Initiative (SDI) technologies and hardware in solving Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) problems is presented. The topics discussed include the following: Aerojet programs, SDI's technical focus, SDI technology weight savings, realized benefits, composite technologies, the Advanced Liquid Axial Stage (ALAS), propellant and pressurant tanks, lightweight engines, high performance helium tanks, hoop and helical fibers, ALAS's advanced carbon composite structure, and CLF5 performance issues. The discussion is presented in viewgraph form.

Relmer, Bryce↗
DOE OSTI2015

An international perspective on nuclear criticality safety

Full text of publication follows: As one of the standing technical committees within the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) the Nuclear Science Committee overseas a programme of work aimed at delivering the following key objectives: - the advancement of scientific knowledge needed to enhance the performance and safety of current nuclear systems; - building a solid scientific and technical basis for the development of future-generation nuclear systems; - the preservation of essential knowledge in the field of nuclear science. Criticality safety is an important aspect of all three of these objectives, and the NEA Nuclear Science Working Party on Nuclear Criticality (WPNCS) coordinates many international activities under its programme of work. An overview of the WPNCS is given in the following presentation, and many of the papers presented during the ICNC 2015 technical sessions will be giving details of the outputs from the various projects and activities which make up the WPNCS programme of work. This presentation focuses on issues associated with knowledge management, particularly on how an international framework for nuclear science and criticality safety activities can provide a very effective means of transferring knowledge across technical disciplines, and between different generations of engineers and scientists. To ensure that it is the essential knowledge that is preserved and transferred, we need to understand current trends and future requirements in criticality safety. In this respect, an international framework provides both the broad scope as well as the long-term perspective needed to make an informed judgement on which information/knowledge will be of most relevance to future practitioners of criticality safety. (author)

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2013

Socio-Technical Perspective on Interdisciplinary Interactions During the Development of Complex Engineered Systems

This study investigates interdisciplinary interactions that take place during the research, development, and early conceptual design phases in the design of large-scale complex engineered systems (LaCES) such as aerospace vehicles. These interactions, that take place throughout a large engineering development organization, become the initial conditions of the systems engineering process that ultimately leads to the development of a viable system. This paper summarizes some of the challenges and opportunities regarding social and organizational issues that emerged from a qualitative study using ethnographic and survey data. The analysis reveals several socio-technical couplings between the engineered system and the organization that creates it. Survey respondents noted the importance of interdisciplinary interactions and their benefits to the engineered system as well as substantial challenges in interdisciplinary interactions. Noted benefits included enhanced knowledge and problem mitigation and noted obstacles centered on organizational and human dynamics. Findings suggest that addressing the social challenges may be a critical need in enabling interdisciplinary interactions

McGowan, Anna-Maria R.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Reforming EIA systems: A critical review of proposals in Brazil

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems are under pressure in many countries, driven by a call for efficiency and streamlining. Such a phenomenon is particularly clear in Brazil, where, in the past few years, a number of influential associations put forward documents proposing significant changes to environmental licensing and impact assessment regulations. So far, there is no publicly available information about any initiative towards scrutinizing those proposals. The objective of this study was to critically review the merits and drawbacks of the changes proposed in those documents. The analysis triangulated content analysis, focus group and online survey data. The focus group included ten seasoned Brazilian EIA specialists; the survey, based on Likert-scale and open-ended questions, resulted in 322 valid responses from EIA professionals. Results show that the proposals generally agree that the current EIA system, while playing a key role in mitigating impacts and enhancing project design, needs many changes. Nonetheless, the proposals neither offered solutions to overcome political, technical and budget barriers, nor established a sense of priority of the most urgent issues. Findings from the focus group and the survey signaled that a number of proposed actions might face public outcry, and that those changes that do not depend on legislative action are more likely to be implementable. Previous studies about EIA reform focused mostly on the context of developed countries after changes had taken place. This study, while addressing the perspective of a large developing country in a “before-reform” stage, shows that capacity-building is a key requirement in EIA reform. - Highlights: • Brazil's EIA system is under strong pressure for change. • Findings corroborate ineffectiveness in current system. • There are tensions as to the best approaches to overcome problems. • Exact effects of proposals are uncertain. • Low institutional capacity can play strong role in driving EIA reform.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

An ultra-compact x-ray free-electron laser

In the field of beam physics, two frontier topics have taken center stage due to their potential to enable new approaches to discovery in a wide swath of science. These areas are: advanced, high gradient acceleration techniques, and x-ray free electron lasers (XFELs). Further, there is intense interest in the marriage of these two fields, with the goal of producing a very compact XFEL. In this context, recent advances in high gradient radio-frequency cryogenic copper structure research have opened the door to the use of surface electric fields between 250 and 500 MV m -1 . Such an approach is foreseen to enable a new generation of photoinjectors with six-dimensional beam brightness beyond the current state-of-the-art by well over an order of magnitude. This advance is an essential ingredient enabling an ultra-compact XFEL (UC-XFEL). In addition, one may accelerate these bright beams to GeV scale in less than 10 m. Such an injector, when combined with inverse free electron laser-based bunching techniques can produce multi-kA beams with unprecedented beam quality, quantified by 50 nm-rad normalized emittances. The emittance, we note, is the effective area in transverse phase space (x, p x /m e c) or (y, p y /m e c) occupied by the beam distribution, and it is relevant to achievable beam sizes as well as setting a limit on FEL wavelength. These beams, when injected into innovative, short-period (1–10 mm) undulators uniquely enable UC-XFELs having footprints consistent with university-scale laboratories. We describe the architecture and predicted performance of this novel light source, which promises photon production per pulse of a few percent of existing XFEL sources. We review implementation issues including collective beam effects, compact x-ray optics systems, and other relevant technical challenges. To illustrate the potential of such a light source to fundamentally change the current paradigm of XFELs with their limited access, we examine possible applications in biology, chemistry, materials, atomic physics, industry, and medicine—including the imaging of virus particles—which may profit from this new model of performing XFEL science.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2017

Spallation Neutron Source Second Target Station Integrated Systems Update

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) was designed from the beginning to accommodate both an accelerator upgrade to increase the proton power and a second target station (STS). Four workshops were organized in 2013 and 2014 to identify key science areas and challenges where neutrons will play a vital role [1-4]. Participants concluded that the addition of STS to the existing ORNL neutron sources was needed to complement the strengths of High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the SNS first target station (FTS). To address the capability gaps identified in the workshops, a study was undertaken to identify instrument concepts that could provide the required new science capabilities. The study outlined 22 instrument concepts and presented an initial science case for STS [5]. These instrument concepts formed the basis of a planning suite of instruments whose requirements determined an initial site layout and moderator selection. An STS Technical Design Report (TDR) documented the STS concept based on those choices [6]. Since issue of the TDR, the STS concept has significantly matured as described in this document.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

Assessing Strategic Effects of Artificial Intelligence

This workshop examines the implications of advances in artificial intelligence (AI) on international security, discussing the question of whether we will have to rethink, by the end of the next decade, how we practice nuclear deterrence and ensure strategic stability. Hosted by the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the workshop is part of a collaboration between CGSR and Technology for Global Security (T4GS) to engage policy-makers, scholars, technical experts, and the private sector to address emerging challenges in AI and related issues. The workshop engages with the current literature pointing to the risks and opportunities presented by AI and attempts to assess which are legitimate and which might be exaggerated.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2019

Systematic Technology Evaluation Program for SiC-based BWR Channel Box

Silicon carbide (SiC) –based accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding of light water reactors (LWRs) has become a topic of great interest in nuclear material development since the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Extensive development of SiC cladding has identified benefits of the concept, including its inherent accident resistance and neutronic performance. Advancements achieved during the development of SiC-based ATF cladding have made it attractive for use in accident-tolerant cores of LWRs. In this document, we consider the use of SiC-based materials to replace the zirconium alloy used for the channel boxes of boiling water reactors. Both accident resistance and prevention of the bowing observed in current grades of channel boxes are needs driving the exploration of a new channel box system. To provide a pathway for channel box development, this document lays out (1) a current technology overview, (2) the technology gap, and (3) a systematic technology evaluation plan. The objectives of the technology evaluation plan are to address key feasibility issues revealed by the knowledge gap analysis and to contribute to advancing the technology readiness level. Further development will be required in the technology implementation phase. The technology evaluations include understanding the behavior of channel boxes under both normal and off-normal conditions, identifying potential mitigation strategies for the issues if necessary, and improving channel box performance based on the knowledge obtained. The structure of the technology evaluation plan and each task are shown in Figure S.1. The knowledge gap analysis identified key research areas, including irradiation effects, hydrothermal corrosion, accident behavior, and design and manufacture. These are common issues between SiC-based channel boxes and SiC-based fuel cladding, although technical evaluations specific for the channel box components are required. This document also describes details of the technical feasibility evaluation methods and plans.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Integration Plan for NEAMS Structural Materials and Chemistry MSR Modeling

As part of its broad objective to support advanced reactor development, the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program has a strong interest in developing simulation capabilities to address chemistry and corrosion issues for molten salt reactors (MSRs). To that end, the Structural Materials & Chemistry (SMC) technical area within the NEAMS program is developing a set of codes and databases to describe the behavior of molten salts and their interactions with structural materials. This document reviews the current activities with respect to MSR-relevant codes and is an effort to improve their integration in simulating MSR systems. Interoperability between the codes being developed is critical for the success of the NEAMS-developed MSR simulation capability. This is greatly facilitated by having codes based on the MOOSE framework when possible, and by developing interfaces to MOOSE-based tools for those tools that are not based on that framework.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Independent Review of Non-Destructive Assay for the K-25/K-27 D&D Project: November 30-December 3, 2004, Oak Ridge, TN

The DOE with concurrence from the D&D contractor has chartered an assessment of the methods and procedures used to obtain the original NDA results of holdup deposits at the K-25 and K-27 uranium gaseous diffusion facilities in Oak Ridge. The assessment has been performed by an external review team with the participation of the D&D contractor, DOE, and DOE/OR. This document is the final report for the assessment. The DOE provided the charter for this review. The review team spent a week in Oak Ridge attending meetings and participating in discussions with expert contractor staff. Substantial additional input for the review came from numerous written materials, unpublished and published. This final report of observations, findings, and recommendations in areas defined by the charter is based on information from the meetings, discussions, and documents. The assessment of the Review Team is that the DOE/OR and BJC approach in using historical NDA data for the D&D of K-25 and K-27 is appropriate and generally acceptable. Resolving issues, addressing findings, and implementing the recommendations documented in this report will reconcile specific technical concerns.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1995

Advanced Transportation System Studies Technical Area 2 (TA-2) Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Development Contract: Technical Results - Volume 2

The sections in this report include: Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) Design Ground-rules; Operations Issues and Lessons Learned; Vertical-Takeoff/Landing Versus Vertical-Takeoff/Horizontal-Landing; SSTO Design Results; SSTO Simulation Results; SSTO Assessment Results; SSTO Sizing Tool User's Guide; SSto Turnaround Assessment Report; Ground Operations Assessment First Year Executive Summary; Health Management System Definition Study; Major TA-2 Presentations; First Lunar Outpost Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Design and Assessment; and the section, Russian Propulsion Technology Assessment Reports.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Contracting Officer's Technical Representatives

The Breakout Session is a traditional conference instrument used by the NASA Occupational Health Program (OHP) as a method to convene people with common interests. Typically these sessions provide discussion of current topics of high priority and currency and allow multiple views and opinions to be shared and evaluated by all participants. Since the Contracting Officer's Technical Representatives (COTRs) occupy the technical focus of support contract management, this particular group, attended by 20 representatives, addressed issues and topics at the forefront of operational concerns.

Brisbin, Steve↗