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DOE OSTI2016

WE-H-207B-02: MR-Driven RT Planning

In recent years, steady progress has been made towards the implementation of MRI in external beam radiation therapy for processes ranging from treatment simulation to in-room guidance. Novel procedures relying mostly on MR data are currently implemented in the clinic. This session will cover topics such as (a) commissioning and quality control of the MR in-room imagers and simulators specific to RT, (b) treatment planning requirements, constraints and challenges when dealing with various MR data, (c) quantification of organ motion with an emphasis on treatment delivery guidance, and (d) MR-driven strategies for adaptive RT workflows. The content of the session was chosen to address both educational and practical key aspects of MR guidance. Learning Objectives: Good understanding of MR testing recommended for in-room MR imaging as well as image data validation for RT chain (e.g. image transfer, filtering for consistency, spatial accuracy, manipulation for task specific); Familiarity with MR-based planning procedures: motivation, core workflow requirements, current status, challenges; Overview of the current methods for the quantification of organ motion; Discussion on approaches for adaptive treatment planning and delivery. T. Stanescu - License agreement with Modus Medical Devices to develop a phantom for the quantification of MR image system-related distortions.; T. Stanescu, N/A.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

WE-H-207B-03: MRI Guidance in the Radiation Therapy Clinic: Site-Specific Discussions

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

WE-H-207B-04: Strategies for Adaptive RT

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2012

Nuclear Nonproliferation Ontology Assessment Team (Final Report)

The Ontology Assessment Team began in May 2009 and concluded in September 2011. During this two-year time frame, the Ontology Assessment team had two objectives: (1) Assessing the utility of knowledge representation and semantic technologies for addressing nuclear nonproliferation challenges; and (2) Developing ontological support tools that would provide a framework for integrating across the Simulation, Algorithm and Modeling (SAM) program. The SAM Program was going through a large assessment and strategic planning effort during this time and as a result, the relative importance of these two objectives changed, altering the focus of the Ontology Assessment Team. In the end, the team conducted an assessment of the state of art, created an annotated bibliography, and developed a series of ontological support tools, demonstrations and presentations. A total of more than 35 individuals from 12 different research institutions participated in the Ontology Assessment Team. These included subject matter experts in several nuclear nonproliferation-related domains as well as experts in semantic technologies. Despite the diverse backgrounds and perspectives, the Ontology Assessment team functioned very well together and aspects could serve as a model for future inter-laboratory collaborations and working groups. While the team encountered several challenges and learned many lessons along the way, the Ontology Assessment effort was ultimately a success that led to several multi-lab research projects and opened up a new area of scientific exploration within the Office of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Verification.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

DOE OSTI2019

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 up 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. One outsider theft scenario was examined with 4-8 adversaries to determine security metrics. This work fits into a larger Virtual 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. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was funded by the Materials Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) working group as part of the Nuclear Technology Research and Development Program under the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

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 OSTI2020

Quality Assurance Plan for Federal Guidance Report 16

Federal Guidance Report No. 16 will provide risk coefficients for use in projecting the probability of cancer morbidity or mortality from exposure to environmental radionuclides. The derivation of nuclide-specific risk coefficients involves multiple steps, with each step relying on the accuracy of the previous step as well as the numerical data utilized within each step. Thus, to ensure the quality of the derived risk coefficients, it is necessary to evaluate and confirm the quality and proper implementation of input data at each step of the derivation. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) dosimetry research team currently has two largely independent software codes for deriving radiation dose estimates, dose coefficients, and cancer risk coefficients for internally deposited radionuclides: DCAL and QCAL. The agreement of derived values based on alternate codes is an important step in quality assurance (QA) of the risk coefficients produced in this project. DCAL is an integration of the dosimetric software and numerical databases developed at ORNL over the past 25 years for the EPA’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA). QCAL was developed in 2015 to serve as a substitute for DCAL while DCAL was undergoing revision and to provide QA for the updated version of DCAL. The complex methodology employed in the derivation of cancer risk coefficients presents a challenge for QA, and as such, this report describes the QA steps used by the ORNL dosimetry team in this process as implemented in DCAL and QCAL for Federal Guidance Report No. 16.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2024

A Roadmap for a Lightning Modeling Grand Challenge

This document is a roadmap for building an interconnected model of the physical processes that produce a lightning discharge, and its observable optical and radio signals. We call this a Lightning Modeling Grand Challenge, recognizing that significant effort and coordination of human and financial resources is required to realize the capability. The roadmap serves to outline the coordination of resources necessary to enable stitching together existing knowledge and model components to make a lightning prediction, and to test these predictions with observations. Such a capability does not currently exist. The roadmap is motivated not only by a spirit of scientific inquiry, but by practical challenges faced by US Federal and societal stakeholders. Advancements in lightning observations have outpaced our tests of integrated understanding, leaving many stakeholders unsure how to design their missions to properly detect and discriminate lightning, and unsure how to apply the sometimes-disagreeing lightning signals from diverse instruments. The time is right to connect existing theories and models to support stakeholders in understanding the signals they observe, for needs as diverse as climate monitoring, national security, weather forecasting, public safety, and protection of natural and built environments. The roadmap’s two main technical sections describe the components of a linked physical model, followed by a description of models of lightning signals and sensors that are driven by outputs from the physical model. The goal is to predict the time-varying physical properties of lightning that are self-consistent with the thunderstorm’s structure and dynamics. These lightning signals then propagate through the storm, with realistic dispersion and attenuation, to receivers on the ground or in space. At a high level, the model begins with weather (cloud) model output, including explicit prediction of the electrification of cloud particles. The cloud’s electrical structure drives a model of lightning physics, from initiation, through channel development, and discharges along those channels. Key lightning parameters, such as the temperature and currents in the channel, and their space and time distribution, are then used to produce optical and electromagnetic signal sources that propagate to modeled receivers. This architecture therefore generates a dataset suitable for comparison to existing and envisioned observing systems. The need for additional measurements and field campaigns to support model development is described. In each model sub-component, inputs, outputs, uncertainties, evaluation methods, and next steps are summarized, interleaved with references to the scientific literature. Identifying boundaries between the model sub-components aids in segmenting an integrated, complex model into practical work packages and system sub-components, allowing a diverse team to contribute and maintain the system. We estimate that at least five years of effort and a $\$$10M initial investment is necessary to make a significant step forward. Mechanisms to facilitate community coordination, including annual workshops and open-source code repositories, are described.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

SYNTHESIS AND MODIFICATION OF HIGH-NICKEL CATHODE MATERIALS FOR NEXT GENERATION LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

The limited worldwide Cobalt resource has spurred demand for new cathode materials with reduced Cobalt reliance. Substituting Cobalt with Nickel giving high-Nickel cathode material is a promising solution due to its high energy density and cheaper price. However, the poor cycling stability of high-nickel cathode materials is the major challenge that hinders their widespread adoption in electric vehicles and other energy storage applications. This work reports a significant advance in the development of high-nickel cathode materials with improved cycling stability. Firstly, a scalable synthesis route is developed to produce high-nickel cathodes with favorable morphology and high nickel content of 92%. Various low-cost doping elements including Mg, Al and Ti are screened to improve the structure of high-nickel cathodes during cycling. A Dual Protective strategy with AlPO4 nanoparticles as a representative is introduced as a low cost and effective approach to prolong the cycle stability of high-nickel cathodes. Finally, single-crystalline high-nickel cathodes are synthesized, and their electrochemical performance is compared with polycrystalline cathodes. The synthesized high-nickel cathode materials exhibit excellent electrochemical performance and significantly improved cycling stability. This work demonstrates promising pathways towards the commercialization of high-nickel cathode materials for Lithium Ion Batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2015

Plan for resolution of technical issues at the Hanford waste treatment and immobilization plant project - 15596

The Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Project has a number of first-of-a-kind technical challenges that have necessitated expert analysis and testing activities to resolve. Since 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) chartered two major WTP technical reviews. Most recently, in 2012, a number of top scientists and engineers conducted a review focused on the design and operability of WTP black cell and hard-to-reach areas. To provide leadership and oversight for resolution of the technical issues, DOE assembled a Design Completion Team composed of personnel from the DOE Office of River Protection (ORP), DOE contractors, and the national laboratories. The Design Completion Team established five technical sub-teams to address specific focus areas. The work of these sub-teams has evolved such that the project is now focused on eight technical issues referred to as T1 to T8. The WTP contractor has developed, and DOE has approved, plans for resolution of these issues. These plans form the basis for the Pretreatment (PT) Facility engineering work that will be performed over the coming years. This work, along with a corresponding update to the PT Facility safety basis, will result in an authorization to resume the engineering work necessary to complete the PT Facility design. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2020

Success Using A Granular-Activated Carbon Filtration Swab to Rehabilitate Westbay{sup R} Multi-level Groundwater Monitoring Wells at the INL - 20544

In November 2015, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) was discovered in groundwater samples collected from a Westbay{sup R} multi-level groundwater monitoring well at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).a Subsequent investigation determined that PCE was not present in the groundwater. The detected PCE was instead due to inadvertent contamination of the internal tubing fluid in the Westbay well-monitoring system, which is isolated from the surrounding groundwater. Further investigation showed that three of the 11 Westbay wells at the INL contained PCE-contaminated tubing fluid at concentrations above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant level for drinking water (5 μg/L). Loose sediment at the bottom of some Westbay wells was also found to contain PCE; the three wells were then identified for rehabilitation as part of the INL well maintenance program. The unique construction of the Westbay wells - i.e., the small diameter (5.72 cm [2.25 in.]) and the depths of the tubing fluid ranging from 144.8 to 419 m (475 to 1,376 ft) below ground surface - posed unique challenges to the rehabilitation. Because the tubing fluid provides structural integrity, the fluid cannot be removed and then replaced without damaging the integrity of the Westbay well. Additionally, the small diameter of the systems and the associated depths limit the availability of equipment that can be used for the rehabilitation. After an evaluation of potential methods, it was determined that the use of an in-well, custom-fabricated, granular-activated-carbon filtration swab deployed via a wire line would provide the safest and most cost-effective method for rehabilitation. Westbay well rehabilitation started at well MIDDLE-2051 in late June 2018 and paused in December 2018 for the season. The PCE concentration in the tubing fluid at MIDDLE-2051 was initially reduced to a maximum concentration of 3.81 μg/L from a maximum of 642 μg/L, while the concentration of PCE in the sediment had been reduced from 5,360 to 2,270 μg/kg. Sampling was performed at MIDDLE-2051 again in August 2019, and the tubing fluid increased to a maximum concentration of 45.4 μg/L, while the concentration in the sediment decreased further to 1,890 μg/kg due to desorption of PCE from the sediment to the tubing fluid. Rehabilitation resumed at well MIDDLE-2050A in late August 2019, and the PCE concentration in the tubing fluid had been reduced to a maximum concentration of 19.0 μg/L. Although the method has been shown to be time-consuming, it has proven to be effective and safe for personnel performing the work and to the integrity of the well. Future sample data results at all wells will help determine an estimated completion of the rehabilitation. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2018

Blockchain: Next Generation Supply Chain Security for Energy Infrastructure and NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Compliance

The U.S. power grid is a complex system of systems that requires a secure, reliable and trustworthy global supply chain. This is especially true for the grid’s increasing number of networked energy delivery system (EDS) and industrial control systems (ICS) and associated vendors, distributers, integrators and end users. Grid modernization has increased the use of “smart” energy devices that network, digitize, automate and increasingly converge the cyber-physical energy supply chain. In this Energy Internet of Things (EIoT) environment there is an increasing number of both critical cyber assets as well as data speed and size requirements, creating new cyber supply chain security and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) CIP compliance challenges for utilities, regulators and vendors. In realization of these goals, improvements are needed in the process and technology to better monitor, audit and realize cyber security and compliance goals in complex EIoT environments. This paper explores how blockchain technology may present a disruptive solution to facilitate NERC CIP compliance and increase the security of the electricity infrastructure supply chain through a cryptographically signed distributed ledger that provides increased data provenance, attribution and auditability.

Blockchain, Cyber security, grid cyber, NERC CIP, ↗

DOE OSTI2025

Understanding the Role of Hydroxyl Functionalization in Linear Poly(Ethylenimine) for Oxidation‐Resistant Direct Air Capture of CO 2

Aminopolymer-based adsorbents are a prominent class of materials being used for direct air capture of CO 2 at the industrial scale. However, improving their working lifetime, specifically by increasing their resilience to oxidative degradation, remains an ongoing challenge. Toward this end, functionalization of aminopolymers with non-amine functionalities such as hydroxyls has emerged in recent years as a promising strategy toward improving adsorbent lifetime. Although there is a growing body of work demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach and investigating the origin of this improved stability, studies to date have primarily focused on branched aminopolymer systems such as branched poly(ethylenimine). In this work, hydroxyl-functionalized linear poly(ethylenimine) is used to continue to probe the underlying protective mechanism of this strategy. A combination of thermogravimetric analysis, NMR relaxometry, differential scanning calorimetry, and computational simulations is used to better understand the relationship between the extent of chemical functionalization, physical properties, and adsorbent performance.

amine-based adsorbent↗

DOE OSTI2020

Electrochemical CO 2 Utilization: Scalable System Operation for Formic Acid Production

In recent years, research into the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 has grown exponentially. Formic acid (FA) has become a particular value product from CO 2 due to its versatility [1], optimal atom economy [2], and thermodynamic favorable [3]. FA can be produced electrochemically via a direct two-electron transfer process involving CO 2 with a proton source, requiring less energy input and fewer reaction steps than the conventional Kemira process. However, product selectivity, electrode stability, and low faradic efficiency due to increased resistance under constant current, remain key issues for CO 2 reduction to FA [4]. University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER) is currently investigating reactor designs to address the challenges associated with electrochemical CO 2 conversion to FA [5]. The current reactor system employs: (1) an organic-based charge carrier which shuttles charge directly to the catalyst to enable CO 2 reduction to FA; (2) novel electrode materials to mitigate large voltages and improve conductivity; and (3) a flow system which not only allows for the volumetric scale-up of both charge carrier and catalyst, but also decouples the charger carrier re-energized and FA production processes to protect the catalyst’s stability due to overpotential. Through careful adjustment of electrode, charge carrier, and electrolyte selection, cell resistances have decreased by over 15%, facilitating conduction necessary for effective CO 2 reduction to FA. The system uses a highly specific engineered catalyst, which has produced over 100 mM FA at a rate of over 10 mM FA/hour following the aforementioned electrode/charge carrier changes. System design considerations (flow rate, bulk volume) and modeling of the system will also be discussed.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Panel Session 94: Nuclear and Industrial Robotics, Remote Systems and Emerging Technologies

This panel focused on the use and benefits of robotics in different nuclear environments. Examples of robotics deployed in nuclear environments that come from industry, academia, and the government were presented. It is through these varying perspectives that the panel participants will show the breath of nuclear robotics used across the world. Presentations proposed include: 1 - Robotics and Emerging Technologies at Assystem (Fanny Fouin, Assystem Energy and Infrastructure (United Kingdom)); 2 - An Undergraduate Perspective (Michael DiBono, Applied Research Center - FIU (USA)); 3 - US-ROK International Collaboration on Robotics and Remote Systems for D and D of NPPs (Young Soo Park, Argonne National Laboratory (USA)); 4 - EM's Historical Engagement with Robotics and Universities (Genia McKinley, US DOE (USA)); 5 - Robotic Systems for Environmental Remediation Applications (Leonel Lagos, Applied Research Center - FIU (USA)); 6 - Remote and Nuclear Challenges and Solutions at the Savannah River Site - SRS (Jean Plummer, Savannah River National Laboratory (USA)); 7 - Nuclear and Industrial Robotics, Remote Systems and Emerging Technologies Challenges, Opportunities and Prognostications (Kim 'KD' Auclair, KD Auclair and Associates LLC (USA))

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2017

Major Considerations on the Nuclear Material Accounting of PB-HTR Commercial Plants

The pebble bed high temperature reactor (PB-HTR) is a promising reactor type with inherent safety features in the next generation nuclear systems Based on the experience of studying and operating test PB-HTR (the HTR-10) for decades, China is constructing the first commercial nuclear power plant of modular PB-HTR in the world, i.e. the HTR-PM, which is expected to commission by the end of 2017. Since the PB-HTRs are quite different from the conventional PWRs in many aspects, including the large amount of fuel pebbles, the continuous refueling, the low heavy metal density in fuels, the safeguards of PB-HTR is important to investigate. Unfortunately, the research on this topic is insufficient by far, especially for the upcoming commercial PB-HTR plants. The PB-HTR has excellent features on proliferation resistance The graphite fuel pebbles with diameter of 6 cm are used as fuel elements, embedded with more than ten thousand TRISO coated fuel particles. This kind of fuel design provides more than one order of magnitude lower heavy metal concentration in fuel than other fuels. For the typical uranium loading of 7 grams in the HTR-PM, more than 10,000 fresh fuel pebbles (about 1.2 tons) are required to provide a significant quantity of indirect-use uranium with enrichment less than 20%. Moreover, the reprocessing of TRISO particle fuels is difficult because of the rigid SiC layer in the coating. Also, the possibility of utilizing materials from PB-HTR's spent fuels to product dirty bombs is quite low just due to the same reason as reprocessing. On the other hand, the large amount of fuel pebbles and the continuous on-line fueling introduce new challenges in nuclear safeguards and material accounting of PB-HTRs. This summary discusses the major considerations on the nuclear material accounting of PB-HTRs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Not Just Lumber—Using Wood in the Sustainable Future of Materials, Chemicals, and Fuels

Forest-derived biomaterials can play an integral role in a sustainable and renewable future. Research across a range of disciplines is required to develop the knowledge necessary to overcome the challenges of incorporating more renewable forest resources in materials, chemicals, and fuels. We focus on wood specifically because in our view, better characterization of wood as a raw material and as a feedstock will lead to its increased utilization. We first give an overview of wood structure and chemical composition and then highlight current topics in forest products research, including (1) industrial chemicals, biofuels, and energy from woody materials; (2) wood-based activated carbon and carbon nanostructures; (3) development of improved wood protection treatments; (4) massive timber construction; (5) wood as a bioinspiring material; and (6) atomic simulations of wood polymers. We conclude with a discussion of the sustainability of wood as a renewable forest resource.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Personnel Certifications for the Design, Installation and Maintenance of Photovoltaic Systems. Final Technical Report

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is the most respected, well-established, and widely recognized national certification organization for professionals in the field of renewable energy. NABCEP’s certifications were created to facilitate consumer protection, improve quality assurance, and help employers judge the skills of existing or potential employees. The certifications also allow individuals to differentiate themselves from others in their field and advance their careers while fostering increased recognition of the profession. Since NABCEP’s founding in 2002, all of its certification exams have been administered in paper-and-pencil format twice per year at 30 exam sites around the United States. The biannual test administration and relatively low number of exam sites make it challenging for many qualified renewable energy professionals to take NABCEP’s certification exams. The rigorous nature of the exam, which leads to many candidates failing the exam on their first and sometimes second attempts, combined with the low number of annual test administrations means that anyone who fails will need to wait another six months for the chance to retake the exam. These factors limited the potential growth of NABCEP’s certification programs and the resultant quality assurance within the renewable energy industry. Thanks to a generous grant by the Department of Energy’s Solar Training and Education for Professional (STEP) program, NABCEP recently began updating its Photovoltaic (PV) Installation Professional Exam and developing three new specialty certifications in PV design, PV installation, and PV commissioning & maintenance. One of the primary objectives of this STEP-funded project was to develop the exams using a computer-based testing (CBT) model to increase the number of exam administrations and available exam sites for NABCEP’s certification exams. To successfully complete this project, NABCEP partnered with Castle Worldwide, Inc. With more than 25 years of experience in test development, test administration, analysis of examinations, and has a staff of 70 experienced personnel, NABCEP was confident that Castle’s team was more than qualified to help NABCEP make the transition to CBT examinations. NABCEP and Castle Worldwide jointly developed a project management plan that included key deliverables, scope management, a work breakdown structure, roles and responsibilities, and a project schedule with milestones. The project schedule was carefully monitored to ensure that activities along the critical path were not delayed and, when deemed necessary, the project was crashed to add resources so that activities could occur in parallel. NABCEP and Castle Worldwide staff met weekly to discuss any potential schedule variances and activities which might delay the closing of the project. NABCEP also recruited 46 subject matter experts (SMEs) to work with Castle’s staff on this project. NABCEP staff, SME’s, and Castle staff worked together to develop the Job Task Analyses that form the basis for the certification exams, create new examination forms, conduct passing score studies, and complete a psychometrical analysis of potential exam items. NABCEP’s SMEs utilized Castle’s item development platform during face-to-face meetings, webinars, and remote item authoring to write, review, and approve exam items. Castle also used their software to psychometrically analyze existing exam items to confirm the reliability and validity of the NABCEP’s certification exams. On January 3rd, 2018, NABCEP’s began offering its PV Installation Professional certification exam via CBT. The exam was available at Castle’s nearly 600 exam sites in the United States. A large number of sites will help to ensure better access for solar professionals in rural and remote areas, which drives down the implicit costs of taking the certification exams. Thanks to the STEP grant and the robust partnership between NABCEP and Castle Worldwide, Inc., personnel certifications will be much more accessible and affordable for renewable energy professionals.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗