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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Explicit Dynamic Impact Analysis of the Building 3525 Packages

The safe transport and handling of radioactive material containers is critical to ensure the protection of personnel, facilities, and the environment. Accidental drops during handling pose a significant hazard, necessitating robust design and analysis to mitigate potential consequences. This study presents an explicit dynamic impact analysis of two container designs, the Baby Sugarman and the Core Conduction Cooldown Test Facility (CCCTF) Tall Boy, used in Building 3525 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The analysis employed nonlinear finite element modeling in LS-DYNA to simulate free-fall impacts from a height of 16.5 ft across eight critical orientations. The study evaluated deformation, strain failure, and shielding integrity under these extreme conditions. Results demonstrated that both designs maintain structural integrity, with no breaches or loss of shielding under specified administrative controls. Notably, a maximum shielding loss of 10 lbs was observed during a top-corner drop, highlighting the need to limit drop heights to less than 1 ft for certain orientations. These findings underscore the effectiveness of engineering controls and design measures in preventing containment breaches and ensuring compliance with safety requirements. This work provides a comprehensive methodology for impact analysis, contributing valuable insights to the field of radioactive materials packaging and transportation safety.

Martinez, Oscar [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000181814046)↗
DOE OSTI2012

Barcode Automation (BCAuto) for Los Alamos Material Control and Accountability System

The plutonium facility is actively processing material on a daily basis at LANL (4000-5000 transactions/month): (1) Physical operations, material transformations, material mixing, splitting, etc.; and (2) Electronic manipulations resulting primarily from updated NDA measurements. Improvements in efficiency and effectiveness are essential due to impacts of recent Voluntary Separation Program and the need to meet mission requirements with fewer personnel. New storage requirements (DOE M 441.1-1, Nuclear Material Packaging Manual) to protect worker safety require tracking of material and its corresponding container over long periods of time. Material at Risk tracking is essential to protect public safety and to ensure continuous operations to meet national security mission needs.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1994

Microscale synthesis and characterization of polystyrene: NSF-POLYED scholars project

Polystyrene is a familiar polymer with many commercial uses. Its applications range from the clear, high index of refraction, brittle plastic used to form audio cassette and CD cases to the foamed material used in insulated drink cups and packaging material. Polystyrene constitutes 11 percent of the plastics used in packaging with only High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) contributing a larger share: so much polystyrene is used today, it is one of six common plastics that manufacturers have assigned an identification code. The code helps recycling efforts. Polystyrene's code is (PS code 6). During the summer and fall of 1992 several new polymeric experiments were developed by the NSF POLYED Scholars for introduction into the chemistry core curriculum. In this presentation, one such project will be discussed. This laboratory project is recommended for a first or second year laboratory course allowing the introduction of polymeric science to undergraduates at the earliest opportunity. The reliability of the experiments which make up this project and the recognition factor of polystyrene, a material we come in contact with everyday, makes the synthesis and characterization of polystyrene a good choice for the introduction of polymerization to undergraduates. This laboratory project appeals to the varied interests of students enrolled in the typical first year chemistry course and becomes an ideal way to introduce polymers to a wide variety of science and engineering students.

Quaal, Karen S.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Final Report for Rocky Mountain Aspen Ranch Springs

Find a biodegradable plastic that won't degrade under normal shipping conditions. a. Will do internet searches on what is available commercially for flexible packaging material. b. Will research published articles on appropriate materials for flexible water containers. 2. Determine why the packaging is failing near the seams when dropped. a. Look at failed packaging to see where it failed. b. Try to determine a cause of the failure seams breaking or material failing. c. Look at how the packaging could be changed to prevent the failures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1972

Contamination threats to critical surfaces from handling and storage practices.

Review of the procedures and results of a program designed to remove the threat of sources of molecular and particulate contamination of critical optical, electrical, and mechanical elements in spacecraft. The results of recent contamination-probing thermal-vacuum tests indicate that some of the materials and practices commonly used to protect critical surfaces from molecular or particulate contamination can themselves represent significant threats. These contamination sources include clean-room and clean-tent materials, gloves, tissues, and covering or packaging materials. Mass and infrared spectral analyses of these materials and the environments and instruments exposed to them show that the contaminants are mostly plasticizers, slip or antistatic agents, and binders used in the manufacture of these products. Products of particular threat include vinyl gloves, boots, clean-tent walls, and some polyethylene sheets and bags. Techniques for reducing these threats are discussed.

Poehlmann, H. C.↗
DOE OSTI2020

CASTOR THTR/AVR Containment Review

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)Radioactive Material Packaging and Transportation Review Team (herein referred to as ‘LLNL Staff’) was tasked with the technical review and confirmatory analysis of the containment analysis and corresponding leakage test implementation procedure for the CASTOR®THTR/AVR radioactive material transportation package with the AVR contents.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Smart Packaging for Critical Energy Shipment (SPaCES)

Recent technical advances have brought forth revolutionary Smart Packaging (SP) technology. SP incorporates multiple electronics, chemical, and mechanical sensing technologies into packaging materials, and utilizes them to monitor and display package content status. SP can also employ embedded micro actuators to react to undesirable package conditions such as moisture/temperature anomalies or harmful chemical reactions and neutralize it. When further integrated with wireless sensing and secure networking, SP provides wholistic system-wide remote situation awareness capability for real-time crisis management. Finally, we also see that SP can be further integrated with 3D printing technology to offer form-factor customization and application specific solutions suitable for DOE (Department of Energy) NNSA’s (National Nuclear Security Administration) R/N (radiological/nuclear) material shipment and management needs; this has the potential to improve safety, security, and overall operation process quality. This report surveys SP technology as the state of the art (SOTA) and analyzes how it can integrate with cybersecurity and 3D printing to address NNSA’s critical R/N material shipment and storage requirements. This report further presents our FY23/24 investigation plan describing project background, goal, motivation, proposed work, and statement of work and cost.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Functional Testing of Alternative Bag-Out Bag for PF-4 Implementation

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued DOE M 441.1-1, Nuclear Material Packaging Manual, to protect workers who handle nuclear material from exposure due to loss of containment of stored materials [1]. Currently, the bag-out bags that are used to move material from a glovebox to a long-term storage container are made of a plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material formed into a bag. In 2015, corrosion was identified during the surveillance of Hagan and SAVY-4000 containers [2]. The corrosion that was identified in storage containers has been attributed to HCl gas generation from radiolytic and thermal degradation of the PVC bag-out bag material [3,4].

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

SAVY O-ring characterization for lifetime extension

Los Alamos National Laboratory and Nuclear Filter Technology, Inc. developed the SAVY-4000 nuclear material storage container, named after the designers Stone, Anderson, Viers, and Yarbro. The SAVY 4000 meets the requirements of Department of Energy (DOE) M 441.1-1,2 Nuclear Material Packaging Manual, to protect workers who handle nuclear materials against radiation exposures resulting from the leakage of stored materials. The SAVY-4000 is an innovative and creative design: it can be opened and closed in a few seconds without using torque wrenches and instead only a tire iron or equivalent prying tool; has a built-in, fire-rated filter that prevents the build-up of hydrogen gas yet retains 99.97% of plutonium particulates at 200 ACCM rated flow; and prevents the release of stored materials upon a 12- foot drop.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Crush Strengths of Stainless Steel Honeycomb for Packaging

Honeycomb structures are used as energy absorbers to dissipate kinetic energy. Their low density to high axial strength and inexpensive cost make them ideal for the energy absorption application. Mechanical properties of lightweight materials are well known compared to more dense materials like stainless steel. Determines the viability of using 304 Stainless Steel honeycomb in future SRNL radioactive material packages. Using a combination of the material properties and testing procedures both static and dynamic crush strength of stainless steel honeycomb will be determined. Both static and dynamic crush strengths of stainless steel honeycomb need to be quantified because strain rate plays a role in the material strength. The stainless steel honeycomb being tested will be cut into sections of about 2.0 inches in width, 2.3 inches in length and 2.5 inches in height. The cell size of the material is 0.25 in and the ribbon thickness 0.003 in. The material has a yield strength of 48 ksi and an ultimate strength of 103.2 ksi, with an elastic modulus of 29,300 ksi. Compression testing to determine the static crush strength will use an Instron compression test machine. This Instron machine uses a 20 ksi capacity load cell, while recording data at varying low strain rates. Dynamic impact testing will involve dropping a 43.8 lb impactor from a height around 5 feet onto the stainless steel honeycomb. The honeycomb structure will be on a rigid surface and the impactor will be dropped via a quick release hook. Dynamic crush strength is determined from the weight of the impactor, height of the drop and difference in height of the honeycomb after the drop.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2017

Polymer blends

The present invention provides, among other things, extruded blends of aliphatic polycarbonates and polyolefins. In one aspect, provided blends comprise aliphatic polycarbonates such as poly(propylene carbonate) and a lesser amount of a crystalline or semicrystalline polymer. In certain embodiments, provided blends are characterized in that they exhibit unexpected improvements in their elongation properties. In another aspect, the invention provides methods of making such materials and applications of the materials in applications such as the manufacture of consumer packaging materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Municipal solid waste composition: Sampling methodology, statistical analyses, and case study evaluation

Highlights: • Tiered approach to waste sorting ensures flexibility and facilitates comparison of solid waste composition data. • Food and miscellaneous wastes are the main fractions contributing to the residual household waste. • Separation of food packaging from food leftovers during sorting is not critical for determination of the solid waste composition. - Abstract: Sound waste management and optimisation of resource recovery require reliable data on solid waste generation and composition. In the absence of standardised and commonly accepted waste characterisation methodologies, various approaches have been reported in literature. This limits both comparability and applicability of the results. In this study, a waste sampling and sorting methodology for efficient and statistically robust characterisation of solid waste was introduced. The methodology was applied to residual waste collected from 1442 households distributed among 10 individual sub-areas in three Danish municipalities (both single and multi-family house areas). In total 17 tonnes of waste were sorted into 10–50 waste fractions, organised according to a three-level (tiered approach) facilitating comparison of the waste data between individual sub-areas with different fractionation (waste from one municipality was sorted at “Level III”, e.g. detailed, while the two others were sorted only at “Level I”). The results showed that residual household waste mainly contained food waste (42 ± 5%, mass per wet basis) and miscellaneous combustibles (18 ± 3%, mass per wet basis). The residual household waste generation rate in the study areas was 3–4 kg per person per week. Statistical analyses revealed that the waste composition was independent of variations in the waste generation rate. Both, waste composition and waste generation rates were statistically similar for each of the three municipalities. While the waste generation rates were similar for each of the two housing types (single-family and multi-family house areas), the individual percentage composition of food waste, paper, and glass was significantly different between the housing types. This indicates that housing type is a critical stratification parameter. Separating food leftovers from food packaging during manual sorting of the sampled waste did not have significant influence on the proportions of food waste and packaging materials, indicating that this step may not be required.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2012

9978 and 9975 Type B Packaging Internal Data Collection Feasibility Testing

The objective of this report is to document the findings from a series of proof-of-concept tests performed by Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) R and D Engineering, for the DOE Packaging Certification Program to determine if a viable radio link could be established from within the stainless steel confines of several drum-style DOE certified Type B radioactive materials packagings. Two in-hand, off-the-shelf radio systems were tested. The first system was a Wi-Fi Librestream Onsight™ camera with a Fortress ES820 Access Point and the second was the On-Ramp Wireless Ultra-Link Processing™ (ULP) radio system. These radio systems were tested within the Model 9975 and 9978 Type B packagings at the SRNL. This report documents the test methods and results. A path forward will also be recommended.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Material and energy recovery in integrated waste management systems. An evaluation based on life cycle assessment

This paper reports the environmental results, integrated with those arising from mass and energy balances, of a research project on the comparative analysis of strategies for material and energy recovery from waste, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. The project, involving the cooperation of five University research groups, was devoted to the optimisation of material and energy recovery activities within integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems. Four scenarios of separate collection (overall value of 35%, 50% without the collection of food waste, 50% including the collection of food waste, 65%) were defined for the implementation of energetic, environmental and economic balances. Two sizes of integrated MSW management system (IWMS) were considered: a metropolitan area, with a gross MSW production of 750,000 t/year and an average province, with a gross MSW production of 150,000 t/year. The environmental analysis was conducted using Life Cycle Assessment methodology (LCA), for both material and energy recovery activities. In order to avoid allocation we have used the technique of the expansion of the system boundaries. This means taking into consideration the impact on the environment related to the waste management activities in comparison with the avoided impacts related to the saving of raw materials and primary energy. Under the hypotheses of the study, both for the large and for the small IWMS, the energetic and environmental benefits are higher than the energetic and environmental impacts for all the scenarios analysed in terms of all the indicators considered: the scenario with 50% separate collection in a drop-off scheme excluding food waste shows the most promising perspectives, mainly arising from the highest collection (and recycling) of all the packaging materials, which is the activity giving the biggest energetic and environmental benefits. Main conclusions of the study in the general field of the assessment of the environmental performance of any integrated waste management scheme address the importance of properly defining, beyond the design value assumed for the separate collection as a whole, also the yields of each material recovered; particular significance is finally related to the amount of residues deriving from material recovery activities, resulting on average in the order of 20% of the collected materials.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Development of Membranes Composed of Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) and Activated Charcoal for Use in a Controlled Release System of Pheromone

Membranes composed of poly (butylene adipate co-terephthalate), PBAT, and activated Charcoal (80:20%) were produced with a double screw extruder and their thermal, morphological, mechanical and structural properties were evaluated. The thermogravimetric analyzes of the membranes showed that there was no change in the decomposition temperatures of the polymer added with charcoal, with the first occurrence between 340–400 °C related to PBAT and the second between 465 and 612 °C related to charcoal. The micrographs of the PBAT membrane presented compact matrix without appreciable defects. For the sample of PBAT:Charcoal it was observed that the charcoal was dispersed in the matrix of the polymer, with some agglomerates and presence of cavities. It was also observed an increase of 120.24% in the barrier property evidenced by the water vapor permeability (PVA) test in relation to the PBAT membrane. This increase may be due to the presence of the wells and clusters observed in the microscopies. The PBAT:Charcoal membrane, despite having presented alteration in the mechanical properties due to the addition of the charcoal, demonstrated good properties, making the process possible. The PBAT:Charcoal membranes presented promising results indicating that these matrices can be used as packaging materials in the industry for improving safety and prolonging the shelf life of the packaged product. The application of pheromones for pest management requires a constant releaser of the active during the capture period of the insect. In addition, for efficient use, the pheromone must be protected from climatic factors. The permeation studies of rhynchophorol through the membranes presented releaser rates similar to the systems found in the literature, with an increase in the life of the pheromone, possibly generating a lower cost of baits for the farmer.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

RADIOLOGICAL SURVEY STATION DEVELOPMENT FOR THE PIT DISASSEMBLY AND CONVERSION PROJECT

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has developed prototype equipment to demonstrate remote surveying of Inner and Outer DOE Standard 3013 containers for fixed and transferable contamination in accordance with DOE Standard 3013 and 10 CFR 835 Appendix B. When fully developed the equipment will be part of a larger suite of equipment used to package material in accordance with DOE Standard 3013 at the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Project slated for installation at the Savannah River Site. The prototype system consists of a small six-axis industrial robot with an end effector consisting of a force sensor, vacuum gripper and a three fingered pneumatic gripper. The work cell also contains two alpha survey instruments, swipes, swipe dispenser, and other ancillary equipment. An external controller interfaces with the robot controller, survey instruments and other ancillary equipment to control the overall process. SRNL is developing automated equipment for the Pit Disassembly and Conversion (PDC) Project that is slated for the Savannah River Site (SRS). The equipment being developed is automated packaging equipment for packaging plutonium bearing materials in accordance with DOE-STD-3013-2004. The subject of this paper is the development of a prototype Radiological Survey Station (RSS). Other automated equipment being developed for the PDC includes the Bagless transfer System, Outer Can Welder, Gantry Robot System (GRS) and Leak Test Station. The purpose of the RSS is to perform a frisk and swipe of the DOE Standard 3013 Container (either inner can or outer can) to check for fixed and transferable contamination. This is required to verify that the contamination levels are within the limits specified in DOE-STD-3013-2004 and 10 CFR 835, Appendix D. The surface contamination limit for the 3013 Outer Can (OC) is 500 dpm/100 cm2 (total) and 20 dpm/100 cm2 (transferable). This paper will concentrate on the RSS developments for the 3013 OC but the system for the 3013 Inner Can (IC) is nearly identical.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

3D printed polymer gaskets for custom-form batteries

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes, like 3D printing, help to facilitate complex and customizable battery geometries which can provide design freedom and enhance volumetric energy density within electronic devices. AM materials must have the thermal and mechanical properties that enable printability, and when used in batteries, AM materials must also be chemically and electrochemically compatible with the battery chemistry. The compatibility between AM materials and the battery is of particular importance for the cell packaging materials which must be inert and are often overlooked. This study systematically studies AM-compatible polymeric materials for use as gaskets in lithium-ion cells. The materials investigated include three thermoplastics suitable for material extrusion printing: polylactic acid (PLA), polycarbonate, and polypropylene/polyethylene copolymer (PPPEC); and two photoresins suitable for vat photopolymerization (VPP) printing: an acrylate-based photoresin and a polyethylene glycol diacrylate photoresin. The AM gasket materials were tested in comparison to a conventional commercial polypropylene gasket. Mechanical testing (swell measurements and material stiffness) and electrochemical testing (linear sweep voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling of full cells) demonstrated that PLA and the VPP polymers were the least compatible with the lithium-ion battery chemistry, despite their prevalent use in studies of AM batteries, and that PPPEC was the most compatible.

3D printing↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Investigation of Critical Pit Size in Savy 4000 Wall

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued DOE M 441.1-1, Nuclear Material Packaging Manual, in March 2008 to protect workers who handle nuclear material from exposure due to loss of containment of stored materials. The Manual specifies a detailed approach to achieve high confidence in containers and includes requirements for container design and performance, design-life determinations, material contents, and surveillance and maintenance to ensure container integrity over time.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗