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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

U.S. Domestic Security-by-Design: On Site Response Force Strategies

U.S. nuclear power facilities face increasing challenges in meeting dynamic security requirements caused by evolving and expanding threats while keeping cost reasonable to make nuclear energy competitive. The past approach has often included implementing security features after a facility has been designed and without attention to optimization, which can lead to cost overruns. Incorporating security in the design process can provide robust, cost- effective, and sufficient physical protection systems. The purpose of this work is both to develop a framework for the integration of security into the design phase of High Temperature Gas Reactors (HTGRs) that utilize pebble-based fuels and microreactors. Specifically, this effort focuses on integrating security into the design phase of a model HTGR and microreactor that meets current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) physical protection requirements and providing advanced solutions to improve physical protection and decrease costs. A suite of tools, including SCRIBE3D©, PATHTRACE© and Blender© were used to model a hypothetical, generic domestic HTGR facility and microreactor facility. Physical protection elements such as sensors, cameras, barriers, and onsite response forces were added to the model based on best practices for physical protection systems. Multiple outsider sabotage scenarios were examined with four-to-eight adversaries to determine security metrics. The results of this work will influence physical protection system designs and facility designs for U.S. domestic HTGRs and microreactors. This work will also demonstrate how a series of experimental and modeling capabilities across the Department of Energy (DOE) Complex can lead to efficient security systems that utilize an onsite response force. The conclusions and recommendations in this document may be applicable to all SMR designs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nuclear—thermal energy storage configurations for industrial combined heat and power supply—conceptual and thermodynamic study with high temperature gas-cooled reactor

Nuclear systems are promising candidates for delivering resilient heat and power for future energy security and independence. Traditionally, nuclear plants have been used for baseload electricity production and cogeneration of heat has seen relatively limited application utilizing typically only small portion of a reactor's thermal output. This paradigm may shift due to the increasing penetration of intermittent renewables and need for resource flexibility, various decarbonization efforts aimed at both electricity and heat demands, along with the perspective of small modular nuclear reactor applications, which can be sized based on local industrial needs. Here, this study provides a comprehensive guide for the nuclear and industrial sectors, emphasizing controllability in the combined heat and power configuration options for high temperature gas-cooled reactor and process steam supply. It investigates the integration of thermal energy storage to improve nuclear energy's responsiveness to varying industrial demands. The study emphasizes placing thermal energy storage between the nuclear primary loop and steam cycle to achieve greater efficiency and flexibility in power and heat output, surpassing traditional combined heat and power systems and avoiding efficiency losses seen in other thermal energy storage integration approaches.

combined heat and power (CHP)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Second Report of the Nuclear Data Subcommittee of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee

The central importance of the nuclear data curated by the US Nuclear Data Program (USNDP) for clean energy generation, national security, nonproliferation, medical applications, and space exploration as well as basic science was described in a prior report issued by the DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee subcommittee on Nuclear Data (NSAC-ND) in September 2022. In this report, we present a set of fourteen (14) recommendations that will enhance and advance DOE-NP's stewardship of nuclear data. The first three recommendations focus on the existing core USNDP capabilities, namely: 1) Support the nuclear structure evaluation workforce to improve the currency, consistency, and accessibility of the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF); 2) Enhance nuclear reaction evaluation within the USNDP in support of the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) through expansion of the workforce and integration of high-performance computing, automation, and machine learning and; 3) Continue atomic mass evaluation in support AME and NUBASE databases. This is followed by eight (8) recommendations representing new cross-cutting initiatives involving both measurement and evaluation to address outstanding nuclear data needs. These new initiatives require a highly trained, diverse workforce that includes personnel with expertise from both inside and outside the nuclear physics community from which evaluators have traditionally been recruited. As such, many of these initiatives are accomplished via a Topical Nuclear Data Collaborations (TNDC). A TNDC is made up of domestic and international stakeholders, subject matter and nuclear data experts, and nuclear data evaluators and features a workforce development plan to ensure that nuclear data evaluators maintain currency in the relevant applications and are seen as equity partners in the endeavor. These include: 1) Establish a coordinated effort to improve evaluation and modeling in nuclear astrophysics for stellar dynamics, multi-messenger astronomy and nucleosynthesis; 2) Initiate a TNDC to develop and maintain nuclear structure evaluation beyond discrete states, including nuclear level densities, photon strength functions and photonuclear data for improved reaction modeling, and exploring nuclear structure at finite temperature; 3) Create a TNDC to perform correlated fission data evaluation, including cross sections, fragment yields, v(A), v(E n ) for nuclear energy, national security, nonproliferation and basic science; 4) From a panel of subject matter experts to establish and annually update a roster of key decay data to nurture its accelerated dissemination including both measurement and evaluation for targeted high-value nuclides for national security, nonproliferation and medical applications; 5) Comprehensive, consistent neutron-induced structure and reaction data for nuclear energy, national security, nonproliferation and planetary nuclear spectroscopy; 6) Charged-particle stopping powers for detector design, space effects and ion beam therapy; 7) High-energy reactions for space exploration and medical nuclide production, and; 8) The creation of an infrastructure for open data and data preservation for use by the entire nuclear physics community. All told, these initiatives require approximately $6.5M increase in NP support of the USNDP in fiscal year 2023 dollars and would require at least 3-5 years to carry out due to the length of time needed to recruit and train new nuclear data researchers. This relatively modest investment would help ensure that the fruits of the nuclear data research carried out by DOE-NP and its collaborators would be brought to bear to address some of the most important needs of our nation and the world. To ensure effective execution of this plan, we present an overview of recruitment, training, and retention goals for the USNDP, the centerpiece of which is a mutually agreed upon code of conduct. Finally, we identify the facility and instrumentation needed to perform the recommended experimental activities. This includes a short review of target fabrication capabilities, reactors, neutron beam, light- and heavy-stable ion, gamma-ray, high-energy and radioactive ion beam facilities. Lastly, a more complete appendix of experimental facilities previously compiled is included with new input provided for 6 facilities.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Small Modular Reactor and Microreactor Security-by-Design Lessons Learned: Integrated PPS Designs

U.S. nuclear power facilities face increasing challenges in meeting dynamic security requirements caused by evolving and expanding threats while keeping costs reasonable to make nuclear energy competitive. The past approach has often included implementing security features after a facility has been designed and without attention to optimization, which can lead to cost overruns. Incorporating security into the design process can provide robust, cost-effective, and sufficient physical protection systems. The purpose of this report is to capture lessons learned by the Advanced Reactor Safeguards and Security (ARSS) program that may be beneficial for other advanced and small modular reactor (SMR) vendors to use when developing security systems and postures. This report will capture relevant information that can be used in the security-by-design (SeBD) process for SMR and microreactor vendors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Physical Security Model Development of an Electrochemical Facility

Nuclear facilities in the U.S. and around the world face increasing challenges in meeting evolving physical security requirements while keeping costs reasonable. The addition of security features after a facility has been designed and without attention to optimization (the approach of the past) can easily lead to cost overruns. Instead, security should be considered at the beginning of the design process in order to provide robust, yet efficient physical security designs. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate how modeling and simulation can be used to optimize the design of physical protection systems. A suite of tools, including Scribe3D and Blender, were used to model a generic electrochemical reprocessing facility. Physical protection elements such as sensors, portal monitors, barriers, and guard forces were added to the model based on best practices for physical security. Two theft scenarios (an outsider attack and insider diversion) as well as a sabotage scenario were examined in order to optimize the security design. Security metrics are presented. This work fits into a larger Virtual Facility Distributed Test Bed 2020 Milestone in the Material Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) program through the Department of Energy (DOE). The purpose of the milestone is to demonstrate how a series of experimental and modeling capabilities across the DOE complex provide the capabilities to demonstrate complete Safeguards and Security by Design (SSBD) for nuclear facilities.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Synergistic Pathways for Water Security in Emerging Sectors: Data Centers and Modern Nuclear Facilities

Stand-alone data centers, nuclear-powered data centers, and novel nuclear facilities such as fusion plant and small modular reactors (SMRs) are rapidly expanding, water-intensive sectors that present a significant challenge to the water-for-energy nexus. Their large-scale consumption of water for cooling systems not only reduces downstream water quantity but also degrades quality, demanding an integrated approach by stakeholders to understand and address these impacts through infrastructure planning and development.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

National Nuclear Materials Archive (NNMA) - Specimen Selection and Sampling at the Y-12 National Security Complex

Y-12 has made significant progress in FY21 towards National Nuclear Materials Archive (NNMA) program objectives related to the identification, nomination, sampling, sub-sampling and shipment of NNMA materials. Y-12 efforts in FY22 and beyond are anticipated to transition away from material identification and nomination to an emphasis on sampling/sub-sampling and long-term storage of NNMA specimens. Long-term storage efforts will also involve more emphasis on insuring that the nuclear forensics value of NNMA items is guaranteed through appropriate preservation processes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Overcoming Challenges to Nuclear-Maritime Applications

This report is the fifth deliverable in a series of reports set forth by the Department of Energy (DOE), led by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), for the research award titled “Accelerating Commercial Maritime Demonstration Projects for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies.” The report highlights guidance to bridge the gaps between innovative nuclear technologies and their practical implementation in maritime environments. The previous reports discussed specific technical, economic and regulatory challenges that may be expected when developing and establishing advanced nuclear technologies for commercial maritime applications. This report supports the mission of the U.S. National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) to demonstrate projects with industry and acts as a resource for the various stakeholders associated with the development of novel applications for advanced reactors. The previous reports discuss the interest in nuclear technology applications for decarbonized energy and identify the potential demands in nuclear energy supply and price. The work in these reports supports the recently issued nuclear Executive Orders (EOs). Specifically, EO 14299, “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security”, and EO 14300, “Ordering the Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” by ensuring the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies; and increasing the deployment of new nuclear reactor technologies, such as Generation III+ and IV reactors, modular reactors, and microreactors to support America leading the commercialization of affordable and abundant nuclear energy.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Developing an AI-Powered Zero-Trust Cybersecurity Framework for Malware Prevention in Nuclear Power Plants

This study presents the development of an AI-powered Zero-Trust cybersecurity framework for malware prevention in nuclear power plants. The framework aims to enhance the security of critical systems within nuclear power plants by adopting the principles of Zero-Trust and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. By assuming no implicit trust in any user or device and continuously authenticating and authorizing access, the framework ensures a robust defense against malware attacks. The integration of AI allows for the detection and prevention of malware through behavioral analytics, endpoint protection, network segmentation, and continuous monitoring. The paper discusses the key considerations, steps, and technologies involved in developing this framework, emphasizing the importance of regular updates, training, compliance, and auditing. The proposed framework serves as a comprehensive approach to safeguarding nuclear power plants from sophisticated malware threats and protecting the integrity and safety of critical infrastructure.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Overview of the Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Board Playbook

National Security Presidential Memorandum #20 (NSPM-20) directed the NASA Administrator to establish an Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Board (INSRB), replacing the ad hoc safety review panels used for space nuclear system launch reviews since the 1960s. NSPM-20 provides over-arching direction regarding the Board’s purpose and intent. Upon formation of this new entity, its members recognized that more detailed guidance was needed to ensure predictable and reliable performance of the Board’s functions. The Board drafted and later approved a guidance document referred to as “the Playbook” for this purpose. This paper will summarize the main features of this publicly-available document, along with providing context for its initial drafting and revision. The goal of this paper is to broaden the degree of awareness by the space nuclear system community of INSRB’s activities and intents.

INSRB↗
DOE OSTI2020

A secure measurement unit for an inspection system used in nuclear arms-control verification

Verification of arms control treaties may require information barriers to protect sensitive data acquired during the verification process. These information barriers are commonly implemented in software, but must store and operate on data that are vulnerable to attack and tampering. Here, we present a new Secure Measurement Unit based on a modified pipeline SAR ADC architecture. The idea is to move the information barrier back into the digitization process so that prohibited data is never created. A prototype 65nm CMOS Secure Measurement Unit (SMU) was tested using U-235, U-238, Co-60, Cs-137 and Am-241 sources. Here, the prototype accurately digitized allowable signals while being immune to side-channel attacks on signals within preset forbidden regions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Advanced Reactor Fragility Considerations

This presentation describes advanced reactor concepts at a high level and discusses them with respect to their implications on failure modes, criticality safety, and proliferation. The presentation is meant to give cyber security specialists with no nuclear background a high level overview of future technologies and how they may be impacted by cyber security concerns. The conference will be held on Wednesday, July 21st so the presentation needs to be approved by the morning on July 20th.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of a Regulatory Strategy for Post Operational Clean Out Activities at Sellafield Limited Nuclear Licensed Site - 20273

The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) at the Sellafield nuclear licensed site carried out its final commercial shear of spent nuclear fuel in November 2018, since when the facility has undergone rundown prior to cessation of operations. The Magnox Reprocessing Facility (MRF) is also due to cease operating, around the end of 2020. Following the cessation of spent fuel reprocessing, the facilities and supporting infrastructure will transition into Post Operational Clean Out (POCO), which will become an increasingly significant portion of Sellafield Limited's (SL) activities. POCO is defined as the set of activities undertaken directly after a nuclear facility comes to the end of its operational life, in order to place the plant in a suitable state for the subsequent decommissioning steps. The decommissioning strategy at SL is for deferred dismantling of these facilities, which will be subject to a period of Surveillance and Maintenance (S and M) following completion of POCO. This paper outlines the development and implementation of a regulatory strategy for POCO activities at the Sellafield site by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the independent nuclear safety, transport and security regulator in the United Kingdom. The paper also describes how this regulatory strategy is applied to nuclear installations undergoing transition into POCO and subsequent decommissioning. ONR works jointly with the Environment Agency, as the environmental regulators in England, to ensure that matters relevant to them have been duly considered. In developing a regulatory strategy, ONR has taken a site-wide approach, moving away from regulation on a facility-by-facility basis, to promote consistency, as well as maximising efficiency and effectiveness. The aim of this integrated approach was to prevent complications during future decommissioning and dismantling that have been experienced previously at similar facilities in France. The strategy recognised that once reprocessing operations are concluded, the hazard present will be reduced significantly, which provides the opportunity for ONR to consider how best to deliver a proportionate approach to regulatory interventions. Once POCO has been completed and the facility has transitioned into a period of S and M, the scale and frequency of ONR's interventions will reduce, commensurate with the safety case covering the remaining hazard and activities associated with maintaining the facility prior to final decommissioning. This approach allows ONR to consider risks holistically, considering the full life cycle of the facility and by taking due account of the interdependencies between facilities across the site. The strategy also aligns with existing regulation of high hazard and risk reduction activities, which remain ONR's top priority. As SL progresses with POCO activities in THORP and across the rest of the site, ONR will review its regulatory strategy to ensure that the intended safety benefits are realised. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
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

INS–Support for Formal Cyber Security Education in Brazil–After Action Report

The adoption of digital technology into Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems in nuclear facilities fundamentally changes the nature of these systems. Greater interconnectivity of reprogrammable, and functionally interdependent control systems has given rise to the need for computer security consideration in digital I&C Systems. The cyber security of I&C systems presents a growing risk to nuclear facilities and requires the development of educational and research tools to ensure the safety of these facilities. Currently there is a major gap in formal educational offerings on cyber security for these Operational Technology (OT) systems. To provide formal cyber security education resources, DOE’s office of International Nuclear Security (INS) partnered with the University of São Paulo (USP) to develop a training course on the cyber security of nuclear facility I&C systems using the hypothetical Nuclear Power Plant, Asherah.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Analysis of the Effects of Postclosure Criticality on Repository Performance

The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy’s Disposal Research & Development Campaign seeks to better understand the technical basis, risks, and uncertainty associated with the safe and secure disposition of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Commercial nuclear power generation in the United States has resulted in thousands of metric tons of SNF, the disposal of which is the responsibility of DOE (Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended). Any repository licensed to dispose of SNF will be subject to requirements regarding the long-term performance of that repository. Evaluating the long-term performance of the repository may consider the consequences of the SNF achieving a critical configuration during the postclosure period. Of particular interest is the potential for this to occur in dual-purpose canisters (DPCs), which are currently licensed and being used to store and transport SNF but were not designed for permanent geologic disposal. DOE has been considering disposing of SNF in DPCs to avoid the costs and worker dose associated with repackaging the SNF currently stored in DPCs into repository-specific canisters. This report examines the consequences of postclosure criticality to provide technical support to DOE in developing a disposal plan.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗