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DOE OSTI2026

FERC order 2222 & DER policy and implementation report - January 2026

The January 2026 FERC 2222 Tracker Report provides an overview of the progress and challenges in the implementation of FERC Order 2222, emphasizing the critical need for state-level action to address gaps in DERA/EDC communication protocols. The report highlights the importance of reliable communication between electric distribution companies (EDCs) and DER aggregators (DERAs) for seamless market operations, noting the absence of specific directives from FERC and RTO/ISO compliance filings. Key discussions include the operational coordination required to manage DER operations within aggregated markets, the potential use of tools like DER Registries for efficient data exchange, and the implications of non-performance due to communication issues. While steps are being taken at the state level, such as ongoing policy development and bi-monthly webinars for stakeholder education, no states have fully developed coordination frameworks as of early 2026. The report underscores the growing role of states and local regulators in defining these protocols and ensuring effective coordination amidst the complex dynamics of distributed energy resources (DERs) integration into wholesale markets.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Electricity Rate Designs for Large Loads: Evolving Practices and Opportunities 2026 Update

Electricity demand from large-load customers such as data centers is projected to grow significantly in the near term. While these large loads play an important role in advancing technology innovation and economic growth in the United States, meeting their energy needs requires utilities and regulators to consider important operational and financial risks, such as insufficient energy supply or underutilized investments, that can impact all customers. This paper builds on similar research published in January 2025, providing an overview of how utilities and regulators are managing these risks through different tariffs, including rate structures and electric service agreements. Regulators, utilities, customers, and other stakeholders can use this paper as a foundation when discussing issues and sharing perspectives on developing or reviewing large-load tariffs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS1974

Management and design of long-life systems; Proceedings of the Symposium, Denver, Colo., April 24-26, 1973

The long life of Pioneer interplanetary spacecraft is considered along with a general accelerated methodology for long-life mechanical components, dependable long-lived household appliances, and the design and development philosophy to achieve reliability and long life in large turbine generators. Other topics discussed include an integrated management approach to long life in space, artificial heart reliability factors, and architectural concepts and redundancy techniques in fault-tolerant computers. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Schurmeier, H. M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

NASA space station software standards issues

The selection and application of software standards present the NASA Space Station Program with the opportunity to serve as a pacesetter for the United States software in the area of software standards. The strengths and weaknesses of each of the NASA defined software standards issues are summerized and discussed. Several significant standards issues are offered for NASA consideration. A challenge is presented for the NASA Space Station Program to serve as a pacesetter for the U.S. Software Industry through: (1) Management commitment to software standards; (2) Overall program participation in software standards; and (3) Employment of the best available technology to support software standards

Tice, G. D., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Microencapsulated Phase-Change Materials For Storage Of Heat

Report describes research on engineering issues related to storage and transport of heat in slurries containing phase-change materials in microscopic capsules. Specific goal of project to develop lightweight, compact, heat-management systems used safely in inhabited areas of spacecraft. Further development of obvious potential of technology expected to lead to commercialization and use in aircraft, electronic equipment, machinery, industrial processes, and other sytems in which requirements for management of heat compete with severe restrictions on weight or volume.

Colvin, David P.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A principled approach to the measurement of situation awareness in commercial aviation

The issue of how to support situation awareness among crews of modern commercial aircraft is becoming especially important with the introduction of automation in the form of sophisticated flight management computers and expert systems designed to assist the crew. In this paper, cognitive theories are discussed that have relevance for the definition and measurement of situation awareness. These theories suggest that comprehension of the flow of events is an active process that is limited by the modularity of attention and memory constraints, but can be enhanced by expert knowledge and strategies. Three implications of this perspective for assessing and improving situation awareness are considered: (1) Scenario variations are proposed that tax awareness by placing demands on attention; (2) Experimental tasks and probes are described for assessing the cognitive processes that underlie situation awareness; and (3) The use of computer-based human performance models to augment the measures of situation awareness derived from performance data is explored. Finally, two potential example applications of the proposed assessment techniques are described, one concerning spatial awareness using wide field of view displays and the other emphasizing fault management in aircraft systems.

Tenney, Yvette J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Conceptual designs for lunar base life support systems

Three designs for lunar-base life support are described emphasizing the choices of individual processes for initial, intermediate, and advanced systems. Mass balances for the systems are employed to demonstrate the interactions of air, water, and waste loops, and several waste-treatment processes are considered for the initial life-support system. NASA space-station technologies are adopted for the start-up air, water, and waste treatment subsystems, and the intermediate subsystems provide enhanced capabilities. The intermediate waste-management subsystem permits the recovery of reusable waste, and the advanced system provides biological waste treatment. The reduction of resupply requirements and power use are identified as critical issues as is the ability to operate over extended periods.

Dall-Bauman, Liese↗

NASA NTRS1996

Report on Alternative Devices to Pyrotechnics on Spacecraft

Pyrotechnics accomplish many functions on today's spacecraft, possessing minimum volume/weight, providing instantaneous operation on demand, and requiring little input energy. However, functional shock, safety, and overall system cost issues, combined with emergence and availability of new technologies question their continued use on space missions. Upon request from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Program Management Council (PMC), Langley Research Center (LaRC) conducted a survey to identify and evaluate state-of-the-art non-explosively actuated (NEA) alternatives to pyrotechnics, identify NEA devices planned for NASA use, and investigate potential interagency cooperative efforts. In this study, over 135 organizations were contacted, including NASA field centers, Department of Defense (DOD) and other government laboratories, universities, and American and European industrial sources resulting in further detailed discussions with over half, and 18 face-to-face briefings. Unlike their single use pyrotechnic predecessors, NEA mechanisms are typically reusable or refurbishable, allowing flight of actual tested units. NEAs surveyed include spool-based devices, thermal knife, Fast Acting Shockless Separation Nut (FASSN), paraffin actuators, and shape memory alloy (SMA) devices (e.g., Frangibolt). The electro-mechanical spool, paraffin actuator and thermal knife are mature, flight proven technologies, while SMA devices have a limited flight history. There is a relationship between shock, input energy requirements, and mechanism functioning rate. Some devices (e.g., Frangibolt and spool based mechanisms) produce significant levels of functional shock. Paraffin, thermal knife, and SMA devices can provide gentle, shock-free release but cannot perform critically timed, simultaneous functions. The FASSN flywheel-nut release device possesses significant potential for reducing functional shock while activating nearly instantaneously. Specific study recommendations include: (1) development of NEA standards, specifically in areas of material characterization, functioning rates, and test methods; (2) a systems level approach to assure successful NEA technology application; and (3) further investigations into user needs, along with industry/government system-level real spacecraft cost benefit trade studies to determine NEA application foci and performance requirements. Additional survey observations reveal an industry and government desire to establish partnerships to investigate remaining unknowns and formulate NEA standards, specifically those driven by SMAs. Finally, there is increased interest and need to investigate alternative devices for such functions as stage/shroud separation and high pressure valving. This paper summarizes results of the NASA-LaRC survey of pyrotechnic alternatives. State of-the-art devices with their associated weight and cost savings are presented. Additionally, a comparison of functional shock characteristics of several devices are shown, and potentially related technology developments are highlighted.

Lucy, M. H.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Resolution Enhancement of MODIS-Derived Water Indices for Studying Persistent Flooding

Monitoring coastal marshes for persistent flooding and salinity stress is a high priority issue in Louisiana. Remote sensing can identify environmental variables that can be indicators of marsh habitat conditions, and offer timely and relatively accurate information for aiding wetland vegetation management. Monitoring activity accuracy is often limited by mixed pixels which occur when areas represented by the pixel encompasses more than one cover type. Mixtures of marsh grasses and open water in 250m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data can impede flood area estimation. Flood mapping of such mixtures requires finer spatial resolution data to better represent the cover type composition within 250m MODIS pixel. Fusion of MODIS and Landsat can improve both spectral and temporal resolution of time series products to resolve rapid changes from forcing mechanisms like hurricane winds and storm surge. For this study, using a method for estimating sub-pixel values from a MODIS time series of a Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), using temporal weighting, was implemented to map persistent flooding in Louisiana coastal marshes. Ordinarily NDWI computed from daily 250m MODIS pixels represents a mixture of fragmented marshes and water. Here, sub-pixel NDWI values were derived for MODIS data using Landsat 30-m data. Each MODIS pixel was disaggregated into a mixture of the eight cover types according to the classified image pixels falling inside the MODIS pixel. The Landsat pixel means for each cover type inside a MODIS pixel were computed for the Landsat data preceding the MODIS image in time and for the Landsat data succeeding the MODIS image. The Landsat data were then weighted exponentially according to closeness in date to the MODIS data. The reconstructed MODIS data were produced by summing the product of fractional cover type with estimated NDWI values within each cover type. A new daily time series was produced using both the reconstructed 250-m MODIS, with enhanced features, and the approximated daily 30-m high-resolution image based on Landsat data. The algorithm was developed and tested over the Calcasieu-Sabine Basin, which was heavily inundated by storm surge from Hurricane Ike to study the extent and duration of flooding following the storm. Time series for 2000-2009, covering flooding events by Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008, were derived. High resolution images were formed for all days in 2008 between the first cloud free Landsat scene and the last cloud-free Landsat scene. To refine and validate flooding maps, each time series was compared to Louisiana Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) station water levels adjusted to marsh to optimize thresholds for MODIS-derived time series of NDWI. Seasonal fluctuations were adjusted by subtracting ten year average NDWI for marshes, excluding the hurricane events. Results from different NDWI indices and a combination of indices were compared. Flooding persistence that was mapped with higher-resolution data showed some improvement over the original MODIS time series estimates. The advantage of this novel technique is that improved mapping of extent and duration of inundation can be provided.

Underwood, L. W.↗

NASA NTRS2013

The Insertion of Human Factors Concerns into NextGen Programmatic Decisions

Since the costs of proposed improvements in air traffic management exceed available funding, FAA decision makers must select and prioritize what actually gets implemented. We discuss a set of methods to help forecast operational and human performance issues and benefits before new automation is introduced. This strategy could minimize the impact of politics, assist decision makers in selecting and prioritizing potential improvements, make the process more transparent and strengthen the link between the engineering and human factors domains.

air traffic control↗

DOE OSTI2021

Adaptive protection opportunities, gap assessments, and designs

This report provides a comprehensive overview of adaptive protection schemes in use by distribution systems for protection, switching and control on their systems. A significant focus is placed on how existing schemes can be impacted by increasing penetrations of DER as well as how these schemes can enable DER penetrations to increase. EPRI have conducted a survey of member utilities and performed a comprehensive literature review with the goal of baselining the research and identifying gaps with a focus on the issues that were encountered with adaptive protection on real systems. The five adaptive protection applications that are most prevalent on systems today are discussed in detail. These are weather-based fuse-saving, adaptive protection to reduce short-circuit current, adaptive protection for DER, adaptive protection for microgrids, and distribution automation. A broad overview of the technology is given for each scheme. Issues that have been encountered by utilities are highlighted and the safety and reliability impacts are also examined. As distribution systems, intelligent electronic devices, grid equipment and distribution management systems are rapidly evolving, adaptive protection techniques and technologies will become more widely adopted. This report proposes a framework for a conceptual automatic adaptive protection system. EPRI have ongoing research, development and demonstration projects in all of the constituent elements, however challenges remain to link the elements together in a secure and reliable way. EPRI will continue research into automated adaptive protection applications and challenges for the systems of today and future applications to assist system operators in managing the evolving system.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1994

Design and application of electromechanical actuators for deep space missions

This progress report documents research and development efforts performed from August 16, 1993 through February 15, 1994 on NASA Grant NAG8-240, 'Design and Application of Electromechanical Actuators for Deep Space Missions.' Following the executive summary are four report sections: Motor Selection, Tests Stand Development, Health Monitoring and Fault Management, and Experiment Planning. Three specific motor types have been considered as prime movers for TVC EMA applications: the brushless dc motor, the permanent magnet synchronous motor, and the induction motor. The fundamental finding was that, in general, the primary performance issues were energy efficiency and thermal dissipation (rotor heating). In terms of all other issues, the three motor types were found to compare quite equally. Among the design changes made to the test stand since the last progress report is the addition of more mounting holes in the side beams. These additional holes allow the movable end beam to be attached in a greater number of positions than previously. With this change the movable end beam can move from full forward to full back in three inch increments. Specific mathematical details on the approach that have been employed for health monitoring and fault management (HMFM) have been reported previously. This approach is based on and adaptive Kalman filter strategy. In general, a bank of filters can be implemented for each primary fault type. Presently under consideration for the brushless dc machine are the following faults: armature winding open-circuits, armature winding short-circuits (phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground), bearing degradation, and rotor flux weakening. The mechanically oriented experiments include transient loading experiments, transverse loading experiment, friction experiment, motor performance experiment, and HMFM experiment.

Haskew, Tim A.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Practical Application of Model-based Programming and State-based Architecture to Space Missions

A viewgraph presentation to develop models from systems engineers that accomplish mission objectives and manage the health of the system is shown. The topics include: 1) Overview; 2) Motivation; 3) Objective/Vision; 4) Approach; 5) Background: The Mission Data System; 6) Background: State-based Control Architecture System; 7) Background: State Analysis; 8) Overview of State Analysis; 9) Background: MDS Software Frameworks; 10) Background: Model-based Programming; 10) Background: Titan Model-based Executive; 11) Model-based Execution Architecture; 12) Compatibility Analysis of MDS and Titan Architectures; 13) Integrating Model-based Programming and Execution into the Architecture; 14) State Analysis and Modeling; 15) IMU Subsystem State Effects Diagram; 16) Titan Subsystem Model: IMU Health; 17) Integrating Model-based Programming and Execution into the Software IMU; 18) Testing Program; 19) Computationally Tractable State Estimation & Fault Diagnosis; 20) Diagnostic Algorithm Performance; 21) Integration and Test Issues; 22) Demonstrated Benefits; and 23) Next Steps

Mission Data System (MDS)↗

NASA NTRS2010

Handling Emergency Management in [an] Object Oriented Modeling Environment

It has been understood that protection of a nation from extreme disasters is a challenging task. Impacts of extreme disasters on a nation's critical infrastructures, economy and society could be devastating. A protection plan itself would not be sufficient when a disaster strikes. Hence, there is a need for a holistic approach to establish more resilient infrastructures to withstand extreme disasters. A resilient infrastructure can be defined as a system or facility that is able to withstand damage, but if affected, can be readily and cost-effectively restored. The key issue to establish resilient infrastructures is to incorporate existing protection plans with comprehensive preparedness actions to respond, recover and restore as quickly as possible, and to minimize extreme disaster impacts. Although national organizations will respond to a disaster, extreme disasters need to be handled mostly by local emergency management departments. Since emergency management departments have to deal with complex systems, they have to have a manageable plan and efficient organizational structures to coordinate all these systems. A strong organizational structure is the key in responding fast before and during disasters, and recovering quickly after disasters. In this study, the entire emergency management is viewed as an enterprise and modelled through enterprise management approach. Managing an enterprise or a large complex system is a very challenging task. It is critical for an enterprise to respond to challenges in a timely manner with quick decision making. This study addresses the problem of handling emergency management at regional level in an object oriented modelling environment developed by use of TopEase software. Emergency Operation Plan of the City of Hampton, Virginia, has been incorporated into TopEase for analysis. The methodology used in this study has been supported by a case study on critical infrastructure resiliency in Hampton Roads.

Tokgoz, Berna Eren↗

DOE OSTI2022

E-Area Corrosion Coupon Recovery and Evaluation

The recovery and evaluation of selected E-Area corrosion coupons were completed in FY2022. This is the second time coupons have been recovered from the E-Area Corrosion Monitoring Test Site, with the first recovery effort occurring in FY2017. Coupons recovered during the FY2022 extraction have now been exposed to the subsurface for approximately 17 years. This effort is part of an ongoing study where a subset of coupons is recovered at each determined time interval over a 100-year period. Results from this effort, as well as updates to the schedule for future recovery and evaluation efforts, are included in this report revision. This report is issued as a revision to the 2018 report and maintains similar formatting.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2024

Electronic Public Reading Room (EPRR) Guide (V.4)

The Electronic Public Reading Room (EPRR) contains Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) documents required for compliance with environmental regulations and permits. Other documents that deal with environmental issues are included in EPRR.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

DOE OSTI2020

Herbaceous Feedstock 2019 State of Technology Report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes the production of advanced liquid transportation fuels from lignocellulosic biomass by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the State of Technology (SOT). As part of its involvement with this mission, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) completes an annual SOT report for biomass feedstock logistics. This report summarizes supply system impacts of Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)-funded research and development efforts at INL and elsewhere (such as the High-Tonnage Feedstock Logistics projects (Webb et al. 2013a, Webb et al. 2013b, Webb et al. 2013c, Webb and Sokhansanj 2014, Sokhansanj et al. 2014)) that lead to improvements in feedstock supply systems. These include improvements to and observed performance of innovative harvest and collection methods, storage technologies, transportation and handling approaches, and advanced preprocessing technologies. Biomass quality and variability, and the interface between feedstock quality and conversion performance are key drivers in addition to delivered feedstock cost. In this report, we estimate the benefits of R&D improvements to individual supply system unit operations and present the status of feedstock logistics technology development for converting biomass into biofuels. These analyses are supported by experimental data where possible and help to align the SOT relative to the cost goals defined in the Multi-Year Program Plan. The 2019 Herbaceous SOT incorporates several technology changes in feedstock preprocessing and introduces opportunities from the integrated landscape management (ILM) strategy and increased grower participation to reduce biomass access costs, while maintaining or improving grower profitability. During FY18 uneven flow from the horizontal bale grinder was identified as a significant issue limiting preprocessing system throughput. Based on FSL-funded research at INL, the 2019 Herbaceous SOT replaces the horizontal bale grinder used in the first stage size reduction with a bale processor. The improved uniformity of biomass flow entering the PDU eliminated slugging flow from the first stage size reduction and improved the throughput of downstream operations. In order to achieve moisture reduction through frictional heating during grinding (which allowed elimination of the costly rotary drum dryer in previous SOTs), the second stage grinder was changed from a rotary shear, which does not remove moisture, back to a hammer mill. Finally, the 2019 Herbaceous SOT introduces modified three-pass and two-pass corn stover supply curves derived from the BT16 resource assessment, based on FY19 modeling results (WBS 4.2.1.20) quantifying economic benefits of ILM in the supply area, together with modeling results (WBS 1.2.1.5) identifying ILM strategies to increase grower participation. The 2019 Herbaceous SOT report documents the current modeled cost of an herbaceous feedstock supply system from harvest to the pretreatment reactor throat for hydrocarbon fuel production via biochemical conversion, based on equipment and processes now available or potentially available in the near term. The modeled cost also considers both the required quality and the availability of the biomass resources. The 2019 Herbaceous SOT predicts a modeled delivered feedstock cost of $81.37 /dry ton (2016$); this is a $2.30/dry ton (2016$) decrease from the 2018 Herbaceous SOT. Technology improvements that contributed to this modeled cost reduction include reduced cost for the new preprocessing design and quantification of the opportunities of the integrated landscape management (ILM) strategy and an increased grower participation rate to reduce the grower payment portion of biomass access costs, while maintaining or improving grower profitability. A greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) assessment was completed by Argonne National Laboratory using the 2019 Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation model, estimating an increase of 14.89 kg CO2e/ton from the 2018 SOT (69.27 kg CO2e/ton in 2018 to 84.16 kg CO2e/ton in 2019). The increase of energy consumption during preprocessing along with higher transportation distance to access low cost biomass from further distance contributed to the increase of GHG emissions in the 2019 Herbaceous SOT. The reason for the increased transportation distances was the cost tradeoff of going farther from the biorefinery to access the cheaper ILM-derived counties (the cheaper price outweighed the cost of increased supply radius).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Acetonitrile Destruction in ETF Feed Solutions by UV/OX and Persulfate (Final Report)

The Hanford Site Effluent Treatment Facility (ETF) currently treats aqueous waste streams that include condensates from the 242-A evaporator, leachate from the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF), as well as laboratory wastes and, in the future, will treat liquid effluents from the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) leachate. Liquid effluents from the WTP will have significant concentrations of acetonitrile. Acetonitrile is formed by reaction of nitrates and sugar in the WTP low activity waste (LAW) melters and is prevalent in the submerged bed scrubber (SBS) and wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP) liquid effluents from WTP off-gas treatment. When these liquids are concentrated in the WTP Effluent Management Facility (EMF) evaporator in the direct feed low activity waste (DFLAW) flow-sheet, testing has shown that the majority of the acetonitrile partitions to the evaporator condensate. Since the evaporator condensate is directed to the ETF, this creates a potential issue with the ETF waste acceptance criteria and, specifically, the ETF Delisting Modification treatability envelope limits. Consequently, there is a need to assess possible mitigation approaches, one of which involves identification and assessment of potential treatment processes to destroy the acetonitrile, which is the subject of the present report.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗