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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Strategies for Working Remotely: Responding to Pandemic-Driven Change.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Exascale Computing Project’s (ECP) Interoperable Design of Extreme-scale Application Software (IDEAS) productivity team launched the panel series Strategies for Working Remotely to facilitate informal, cross-organizational dialog in the absence of face-to-face meetings. In a time of pandemic, organizations increasingly need to reach across perceived boundaries to learn from each other, so that we can move beyond stand-alone silos to more connected multidisciplinary and multiorganizational configurations. The present paper argues that the unplanned transition to remote work, overuse of electronic communication, and need to unlearn habits associated with an overreliance on face-to-face, created unique opportunities to learn from the situation and accelerate cross-institutional cooperation and collaboration through online community dialog facilitated by informal panel discussions. Recommendations for facilitating online panel discussions to foster cross-organizational dialog are provided by applying the Simulation Experience Design Method.

Raybourn, Elaine M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Module D-PR Fuel Fabrication Preface to the D-Modules

Generic Technical Factors Affecting Fuel Fabrication. Many in-reactor physical, chemical, metallurgical, mechanical, thermodynamic, and nucleonic factors influence the design and functionality of nuclear fuel. Detailed discussion of these technical factors is beyond the scope of this cost-oriented preface document; however, the following three references are suggested for a more comprehensive discussion of fuel design requirements for both commercial and special use (military and remote location) reactors: IAEA-TECDOC-1686 (IAEA 2012), the World Nuclear Association webpage “Nuclear Fuel and its Fabrication (WNA 2020a), and INL/EXT-20-54641 (Mariani 2020). To aid the reader’s understanding of how design affects life cycle costs, a few technical factors are also briefly discussed in the sections below.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Human Factors Considerations for Automating Microreactors

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has interacted with vendors pursuing the commercialization of microreactors ( <10 MW th ). It is envisioned that microreactors could be assembled and fueled in a factory and shipped to a site. Many of the sites are expected to be remote locations requiring off-grid power or in some cases military bases. However, before this new class of nuclear reactor can be fully developed and implemented by designers, an effort must be made to explore the technical issues and provide reasonable assurance to the public regarding health and safety impacts centered on various technical issues. Prior works have examined many of these issues. One issue not yet fully explored is the possible change in role of the operations and support personnel. Due to the passive safety features of microreactors and their low level of nuclear material, the microreactor facilities may automate more functions and rely on inherent safety features more than its predecessor nuclear power plants. In some instances, human operators may not be located onsite and may instead be operating or monitoring the facility from a remote location. Some designs also call for operators to supervise and control multiple microreactors from the control room. This report explores the issues around reduced staffing of microreactors, highlights the historical safety functions associated with human operators, assesses current licensing requirements for appropriateness to varying levels of personnel support, and describes a recommended regulatory approach for reviewing the impact of reduced staff to the operation of microreactors. The report evaluates these issues through an extensive literature survey and Subject Matter Expert interviews. The literature covers research topics related to Human Factors Engineering as well as regulatory guidance given by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

A primer on forest structure measurement with lidar for ecologists

Light detection and ranging (lidar) technology has fundamentally advanced the way we measure forest structure, facilitating new insights into ecological processes. Lidar for forest ecology applications is deployed on multiple types of platforms that operate from the ground, air, or space, and each has associated strengths and limitations. Ideally, the choice of what kind of lidar to use in a particular study should be guided by the ecological question of interest; however, practical considerations of cost, data availability, and processing tools can be equally important. This synthesis is a practical introduction to how different lidar platforms characterize forest structure (e.g., tree size/location, wood volume, branching structure, aboveground biomass, leaf properties), designed for a general audience of ecologists (not remote sensing scientists) seeking an accessible introduction to the use of lidar. We also provide examples of novel ecological insights from recent lidar research and describe current limitations and areas of expected improvement. Last, we include an appendix of data collected from terrestrial, mobile, unoccupied aerial system, airplane, and satellite lidar platforms within a common temperate forest area, with associated code to allow new lidar users to visualize and manipulate data in R.

Cushman, KC [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000234641151)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Underwater thermomagnetic generator for remote marine thermal energy harvesting and sensing

Thermomagnetic generators offer a promising approach for sustainable power generation in remote marine environments. Here, this study presents the design, thermal modeling, and experimental validation of a passively driven underwater thermomagnetic generator developed for powering ocean observation and monitoring sensors. The generator was evaluated under varying working fluids, thermal boundary conditions, and extended operation to assess real-world applicability. Two fluids, deionized water and silicone-based Thermal C5, were tested under simulated shallow- and deep-ocean conditions. Deionized water outperformed Thermal C5, especially in colder environments (~5°C), achieving a peak output of 2.7 mW due to larger temperature gradients and enhanced convective-evaporative heat transfer. Long-duration tests revealed a transient evaporation-condensation cycle that temporarily reduced rotor immersion and performance before stabilizing. The generator powered commercial marine sensors for over 6 h without external batteries, demonstrating the viability of compact, passively cooled thermomagnetic systems for autonomous, off-grid marine sensing.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Software-Hardware Co-design of Heterogeneous SmartNIC System for Recommendation Models Inference and Training

Deep Learning Recommendation Models (DLRMs) are critical applications in various domains and have evolved as one of the single largest machine learning applications. Trillions of DLRM parameters exceed the on-chip memory capacity of GPUs. Large-scale multi-node systems are required for distributed DLRM inference and training, which suffer from the all-to-all communication bottleneck, mainly limiting the scalability of ever-growing DLRMs. In recent years, SmartNICs have evolved with coupled computation and communication capabilities providing opportunities for a powerful heterogeneous device in the system. However, there isn't such a distributed system that fully leverages the abundant smartNIC resources that resolve the scalability issue of DLRMs. In this work, we proposed a software-hardware co-design of a heterogeneous smartNIC system that resolves the communication bottleneck of distributed DLRMs, mitigates the memory bandwidth pressure, and improves computation efficiency. We provide a set of smartNIC designs of cache systems (including local cache and remote cache) and smartNIC computation kernels which reduce data movement, relieve memory lookup intensity, and improve the GPU's computation efficiency. In addition, we propose a graph algorithm that improves the data locality of queries within batches which optimizes the overall system performance with higher data reuse. Our evaluation shows that our system achieves 2.1x latency speedup for inference and 1.6x throughput speedup for training.

Guo, Anqi↗
DOE OSTI2021

Performance Results for Sensor Assignment Problem as Solved on a Multi-Node Cluster

An earlier report described a procedure for optimal sensor set selection and its implementation on a computational cluster. This new and innovative capability was developed to facilitate a reduction in operations staffing levels to improve plant economics. By automating surveillance and maintenance tasks through early detection of degrading sensors and equipment, staff can be more efficiently deployed. The method uses automated reasoning and domain knowledge in the form of the conservation equations to infer from plant measurements the state of equipment health. Inclusion of domain knowledge addresses the problem that exists with pure data-driven methods that there are no rigorous guidelines for determining what constitutes an adequate sensor set. Formalizing the procedure for sensor set selection as we have done results in a more reliable and explainable diagnosis of plant equipment health. Importantly, from the standpoint of the plant owner, personnel are provided with an early and explicit diagnosis of an equipment problem. That in principle automates the process and eliminates having to send personnel into the plant to find the cause as typically occurs when a data-driven method detects an anomaly. In this report we describe first results obtained using a computational cluster to solve the sensor set selection problem as framed above. The case described addresses the problem of equipment health monitoring in the high-pressure (HP) feedwater system of a pressurized light water reactor as seen through the eyes of our collaborating utility partner. Maintenance of this system can amount to millions of dollars per year if equipment health issues go undiagnosed and lead to loss of function. On examining the potential that is inherent in the installed sensor set for diagnosing equipment health degradation, it was found that greater fault resolution capability can be achieved using a sensor set that is 20 percent fewer in number. The take-away is that compared to the installed sensor set there exists a more strategic assignment of sensors that will furnish better health monitoring capability and with fewer sensors. Where the problem defies solution by manual inspection, as is the case here, one can be found by an algorithm. The solution was obtained in four hours using 30 computational cores. The HP feedwater problem as posed above illustrates the added value of approaching the sensor selection problem as one amenable to algorithmic solution. This problem is of interest to advanced reactor designers and to utilities that are setting up remote monitoring and diagnostic centers.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Implementation and Demonstration of the Digital Twin Certification System Remote Operations Framework

Microreactors are one promising advanced-reactor concept being pursued by the nuclear industry. They are distinguished by a relatively low power output of 20 MWth or less. These microreactors are intended for deployment in applications where conventional small-capacity power solutions, such as diesel generators, are either economically unfeasible or logistically challenging. Such applications include providing electric power and/or heat for remote communities, mining sites, defense installations, and humanitarian and disaster-relief missions. An important feature for the successful deployment of microreactors is their capability to be operated remotely. This capability can significantly reduce staffing costs by eliminating the need for licensed operators to be physically present at each reactor site. Instead, operators can be centralized in a single remote operations center placed in an economically advantageous location, thereby optimizing resources by consolidating expertise and enhancing operational efficiency. However, the implementation of a remote operation system for nuclear reactors raises new concerns regarding the security, reliability, and resilience of such a system. One way in which remote operations can be supported in a manner that maintains system security, reliability, and resilience is through the use of digital twins in a novel framework designed to verify and validate sensor data and commands communicated between the remote operations center and reactor. This framework, known as the Digital Twin Certification System (DTCS), has previously been proposed as an operations architecture that can bring security and resiliency levels of remote nuclear-reactor operations to a level acceptable for commercial deployment. This paper moves the proposed DTCS architecture from concept to reality by presenting the implementation and testing of the system. The rationale and implementation of the DTCS using tools such as DeepLynx and Apache Airflow, is covered in-depth. This is followed by a demonstration of the DTCS by applying the implemented system architecture to the Single Primary Heat Extraction and Removal Emulator, a small-scale non-nuclear test bed that emulates thermal behavior of a microreactor. The demonstration includes both normal and abnormal operating scenarios to highlight how the DTCS can increase the security, reliability, and resilience of a remote operations system.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Implementation and Demonstration of the Digital Twin Certification System Remote Operations Framework

Microreactors are one promising advanced-reactor concept being pursued by the nuclear industry. They are distinguished by a relatively low power output of 20 MWth or less. These microreactors are intended for deployment in applications where conventional small-capacity power solutions, such as diesel generators, are either economically unfeasible or logistically challenging. Such applications include providing electric power and/or heat for remote communities, mining sites, defense installations, and humanitarian and disaster-relief missions. An important feature for the successful deployment of microreactors is their capability to be operated remotely. This capability can significantly reduce staffing costs by eliminating the need for licensed operators to be physically present at each reactor site. Instead, operators can be centralized in a single remote operations center placed in an economically advantageous location, thereby optimizing resources by consolidating expertise and enhancing operational efficiency. However, the implementation of a remote operation system for nuclear reactors raises new concerns regarding the security, reliability, and resilience of such a system. One way in which remote operations can be supported in a manner that maintains system security, reliability, and resilience is through the use of digital twins in a novel framework designed to verify and validate sensor data and commands communicated between the remote operations center and reactor. This framework, known as the Digital Twin Certification System (DTCS), has previously been proposed as an operations architecture that can bring security and resiliency levels of remote nuclear-reactor operations to a level acceptable for commercial deployment. This paper moves the proposed DTCS architecture from concept to reality by presenting the implementation and testing of the system. The rationale and implementation of the DTCS using tools such as DeepLynx and Apache Airflow, is covered in-depth. This is followed by a demonstration of the DTCS by applying the implemented system architecture to the Single Primary Heat Extraction and Removal Emulator, a small-scale non-nuclear test bed that emulates thermal behavior of a microreactor. The demonstration includes both normal and abnormal operating scenarios to highlight how the DTCS can increase the security, reliability, and resilience of a remote operations system.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Review of Graphite Properties Relevant to Micro-Reactor Design

Microreactors are advanced reactors that are designed to be small, scalable, and portable with up to 20 MW power. These reactors could operate independently, or as part of a microgrid, without need of a frequent refueling. Micro-reactors are designed to be deployable to provide electric power in remote locations, therefore providing greater flexibility. Several micro-reactors are under development in the US. These reactors are based on advanced gas-cooled or heat-pipe concepts. While Graphite can be found in various applications, some high-temperature reactors plan to employ Graphite in their core components due to its role as a moderator and its ability to maintain its structural integrity when subjected to elevated temperatures and high neutron fluence. Although there is significant experience with use of Graphite in nuclear applications, there are still unknowns that should be addressed. Graphite properties depend on the graphite type and affected by the fabrication procedures. Material properties are functions of the temperature and irradiation dose. The fundamental properties also affected by the oxidation environment. Therefore, in-depth understanding of graphite properties, including the effect of irradiation, oxidation and other influencing parameters are required to evaluate the design accurately. This draft aims to provide a comprehensive review of material properties for Graphite relevant to micro reactor design. For this work, two distinct grades of graphite were considered, namely IG-110 and Mersen-2114. Physical, thermal, and mechanical properties for these grades were comparatively evaluated. The properties that are discussed in this draft aim to serve as a basis for design and safety analysis.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Structural Design Approach Tailored for the Rapid Preliminary Design of Microreactor Components

High-temperature microreactors can play a role in developing reliable, portable energy sources for off-grid remote locations, microgrid concepts, and industrial process heat. Portability and passive safety criteria tend to skew microreactor structural component designs toward complex geometries, high thermal stresses, and design bases with large numbers of startup/shutdown cycles. Current design rules, as typified by Section III of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, are less than optimal for these conditions, particularly for preliminary component designs where developers need to rapidly consider a large number of potential component configurations. This paper presents a design method targeted toward rapid, efficient evaluation of preliminary component designs using modern finite element analysis. The new method retains key connections with the ASME Code rules and design data while streamlining the design approach. This paper presents the design method, several verification examples illustrating the similarities and differences between the new method and the current ASME rules, and the application of the new approach to the evaluation of a test article mimicking key features of a heat pipe–cooled microreactor.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Neutrino-detector design for safeguarding small modular reactors

Nuclear reactors have long been a favored source for antineutrino measurements for estimates of power and burnup. With appropriate detector parameters and background rejection, an estimate of the reactor power can be derived from the measured antineutrino event rate. Antineutrino detectors are potentially attractive as a safeguards technology that can monitor reactor operations and thermal power from a distance. Advanced reactors have diverse features that may present challenges for current safeguards methods. By comparison, neutrino detectors offer complementary features, including a remote, continuous, unattended, and near-real-time monitoring capability, that may make them useful for safeguarding certain classes of advanced reactors. This study investigates the minimum depth and size of an antineutrino detector for a small modular reactor to meet safeguards needs for advanced reactors. Furthermore, extrapolating performance from several prior reactor antineutrino experiments, this study uses an analytical approach to develop a possible design for a remote antineutrino-based monitoring device.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Design and Assessment of a Novel Approach for Ecosystem Warming Experiments in High‐Energy Tidal Wetlands

Abstract Coastal salt marshes have an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Direct and indirect responses to warming are expected to vary along the marsh elevation gradient, making ecosystem responses to warming at this marine‐terrestrial ecotone uncertain. The Marsh Ecosystem Response to Increased Temperatures (MERIT) experiment was established in 2018 on the North Sea coast of Germany. Experimental plots are evenly distributed over three elevational marsh zones (pioneer, low marsh, and high marsh) and include three temperature treatments (ambient, +1.5°C, +3.0°C). MERIT's novel design combines active warming (horizontal surface warming cables and vertical soil warming pins) with passive, partially covered domes. For performance assessment, temperature deltas between ambient and warmed plots were calculated and evaluated at seasonal, daily, and diurnal timescales. We used Linear Mixed Models with Residual Maximum Likelihood for evaluating warming treatment effects and constraining environmental factors. MERIT was effective at ecosystem warming in this high‐energy environment both above‐ and belowground. Mixed models show that warming treatment dominates temperature differences belowground and at the soil surface, along with factors such as wind speed, flooding duration, and solar radiation. Aboveground warming was lower than belowground warming, but the dome design minimized issues seen in other open‐top chamber experiments. The combination of passive aboveground warming with feedback‐controlled active surface and belowground heating provides a setup for understanding warming effects on tidal ecosystems without altering the natural impacts of wind, radiation, and tidal inundations at high‐energy coastlines. Our design creates opportunities to expand future warming experiments to remote locations and technically challenging environments.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2026

Design and development of optical modules for the BUTTON-30 detector

BUTTON-30 is a neutrino detector demonstrator located in the STFC Boulby underground facility in the north-east of England. The main goal of the project is to deploy and test the performance of the gadolinium-loaded water-based liquid scintillator for neutrino detection in an underground environment. This will pave the way for a future large-volume neutrino observatory that can also perform remote monitoring of nuclear reactors for nonproliferation. This paper describes the design and construction of the watertight optical modules of the experiment.

COMSOL simulations↗
DOE OSTI2022

Virtual Infrastructure Twins: Software Testing Platforms for Computing-Instrument Ecosystems

Science ecosystems are being built by federating computing systems and instruments located at geographically distributed sites over wide-area networks. These computing-instrument ecosystems are expected to support complex workflows that incorporate remote, automated AI-driven science experiments. Their realization, however, requires various designs to be explored and software components to be developed, in order to support the orchestration of distributed computations and experiments. It is often too expensive, infeasible, or disruptive for the entire ecosystem to be available during the typically long software development and testing periods. We propose a Virtual Infrastructure Twin (VIT) of the ecosystem that emulates its network and computing components, and incorporates its instrument software simulators. It provides a software environment nearly identical to the ecosystem to support early development and testing, and design space exploration. We present a brief overview of previous digital infrastructure twins that culminated in the VIT concept, including (i) the virtual science network environment for developing software-defined networking solutions, and (ii) the virtual federated science instrument environment for testing the federation software stack and remote instrument control software. We briefly describe VITs for Nion microscope steering and access to GPU systems.

Rao, Nageswara↗
DOE OSTI2023

Virtual Infrastructure Twins: Software Testing Platforms for Computing-Instrument Ecosystems

Science ecosystems are being built by federating computing systems and instruments located at geographically distributed sites over wide-area networks. These computing-instrument ecosystems are expected to support complex workflows that incorporate remote, automated AI-driven science experiments. Their realization, however, requires various designs to be explored and software components to be developed, in order to support the orchestration of distributed computations and experiments. It is often too expensive, infeasible, or disruptive for the entire ecosystem to be available during the typically long software development and testing periods. We propose a Virtual Infrastructure Twin (VIT) of the ecosystem that emulates its network and computing components, and incorporates its instrument software simulators. It provides a software environment nearly identical to the ecosystem to support early development and testing, and design space exploration. We present a brief overview of previous digital infrastructure twins that culminated in the VIT concept, including (i) the virtual science network environment for developing software-defined networking solutions, and (ii) the virtual federated science instrument environment for testing the federation software stack and remote instrument control software. We briefly describe VITs for Nion microscope steering and access to GPU systems.

Rao, Nageswara↗