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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 1,459 records · Page 81

Improving the interface processes in the DOE/ACME model (Final Report)

This is the Final Report of our 4-year Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) project (3 years for the original project + 1-year no-cost extension). The overall objective of our project is to improve the interface processes in the E3SM. Two overarching questions have been addressed: 1) What are the major deficiencies of the (land-atmosphere, ocean-atmosphere, land-ocean, and snow-sea ice) interface processes in E3SM? 2) How can we improve the treatment of these deficiencies in E3SM? Four tasks have been carried out: to evaluate and improve the land–atmosphere coupling in E3SM; to evaluate and improve the ocean–atmosphere coupling in E3SM; to evaluate and improve the land–ocean coupling in E3SM; and to evaluate and improve the snow–sea ice coupling in E3SM.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NTS-SS-SNL-NMSITE-2017-0004,"Contamination Monitor Left in Service After Inadequate Calibration" Causes Not Fully Addressed (ES&H Causal Analysis Report)

Sandia National Laboratories Radiation Protection department did not successfully address the causes leading to the issue NTS-SS-SNL-NMSITE-2017-0004, “Contamination Monitor Left in Service After Inadequate Calibration”, nor identify through the verification and validation process that corrective actions were not fully implemented and effective at addressing the issue(s). This report is the third causal in four years associated with the iPCM12 instrument and the Radiation Protection Instrumentation (RPI) organization within Radiation Protection (00628).

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Density Tailored Capillary Discharge (Final Technical Report)

This final report describes efforts to validate a novel way to drive capillary discharges in order to achieve true matched guiding of a focused laser beam traveling along the capillary. Achieving such matched guiding is important for laser plasma accelerators, such as ones based upon laser wakefield acceleration. During this Phase II program, a computer model, which was specifically designed to predict the time-dependent behavior of the capillary discharge, was exercised to determine whether unconventional ways to drive the discharge may yield matched guiding. A custom power supply was built to drive the capillary discharge in the unconventional manner specified by the model. Experiments performed at STI Optronics seemed to support the predictions of this model; however, subsequent more accurate measurements performed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory did not agree with the model predictions.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Mixed Waste Landfill Annual Long-Term Monitoring & Maintenance Report (Apr 2015-Mar 2016)

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is a multi-purpose engineering and science laboratory owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration. SNL is managed and operated by Sandia Corporation (Sandia), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (SNL/NM) is located within the boundaries of Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB), southeast of the City of Albuquerque in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. The Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL) is located 4 miles south of SNL/NM central facilities and 5 miles southeast of Albuquerque International Sunport, in the north-central portion of Technical Area (TA)-III. The MWL disposal area comprises 2.6 acres. During operations, the MWL accepted containerized and other low-level radioactive waste and minor amounts of mixed waste from SNL/NM research facilities and off-site DOE and U.S. Department of Defense generators from March 1959 to December 1988. More specific information regarding the MWL inventory and past disposal practices is presented in the MWL Phase 2 RCRA Facility Investigation Report (Peace et al. September 2002) and the extensive MWL Administrative Record.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Summary of Bison documentation and UX milestones - NEAMS FY20 Report

This summary report contains an overview of work performed under the work package entitled “MS- 20IN020107 - BISON advanced numerical model development and usability improvements - INL”, which is focused on the development and support of the fuel performance code BISON [1]. The second chapter lists FY20 milestones titles, completion schedule, and milestone level. Subsequent chapters summarize and demonstrate completion of milestones and activities. The last chapter outlines FY21 proposed future work.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

LaserNetUS at the Extreme Light Laboratory. Final report

This is the final report for LaserNetUS, Grant # DE-SC0019419. This project covered the first two annual cycles (2018-2020) of LaserNetUS experiments conducted at the Extreme Light Laboratory, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The project provided students and scientists from four institutions (BYU, Stanford, UNR, and ARFL) with access to a world-class high-intensity laser facility. Experimental results were obtained on the topics of Nonlinear Thomson scattering, Relativistic vacuum acceleration, and electron beams in relativistic high-energy-density plasma to study x-ray line emission and radio frequencies of ultrashort relativistic electron beam interactions. Another benefit was the training of 10 students (undergraduate or graduate) and 6 young scientists (postdoc or associate/research professors) in critical areas to the future development of high energy density science and high-power laser technology.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Control of the Plasma-Material Interface for Long Pulse Optimization in EAST Final Report

This final report describes the funded activity to understand and control the plasma-material interface to improve long pulse discharge control and performance on the EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) facility, located in Hefei, China. The primary focus of the research was long pulse recycling control via optimization of lithium (Li) delivery systems, including flowing liquid lithium plasma facing components (PFCs), because Li persists as the main wall conditioning technique. On EAST, lithium was primarily introduced using crucible evaporation, pellet injection, and gravitationally dropped powder. Overall, the introduction of lithium into the EAST plasma had strong and persistent effects on the ELM behavior during long pulse EAST discharges demonstrating overall improved performance. Additionally, a flexible impurity injection tool, a multi-chamber impurity powder dropper, was developed and deployed on EAST, to extend powder injection to elements other than Li. Finally, improvements to the Soft X-ray diagnostic system were introduced to improve measurements of impurity transport and electron temperature.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Site Environmental Report for 2019

This report, prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy, Bay Area Site Office (DOE!BASO), provides a comprehensive summary of the environmental program activities at LBNL for calendar year 2019. SERs are prepared annually for all DOE sites with significant environmental activities, and distributed to relevant external regulatory agencies and other interested organizations or individuals.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NNSA-IAEC Science Area V Environmental ISR: Waste Management and Subsurface Science (Final Report FY18-FY20)

In August 2017, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) launched a joint waste management program to evaluate the feasibility of siting a radioactive waste repository at intermediate depths in Israel. The bilateral collaboration involves three National Laboratories (LLNL, LANL, and Sandia), and the Nuclear Research Center, Negev, Geological Survey of Israel, and Ben Gurion University in Israel. This research is designed to assist with the evaluation of locations for an intermediate nuclear waste repository in Israel. This final report is a high-level summary of the results from the past three years by the team that worked on the WM-2: Radionuclide colloid-facilitated transport in fractured carbonate rock project for Science Area V, Environmental ISR: Subsurface Science and Waste Management. We have completed all of our tasks and met all of our milestones. MW-2 had three integrated tasks. Task 1 was laboratory experiments investigating colloid transport of radionuclides in natural fractured carbonate rocks from the Avdat formation, Israel. Task 2 was field experiments injecting radionuclide analogues pre-sorbed to clay colloids into fractured carbonate rock, and task 3 was numerical modeling of laboratory and field experimental results to assess the importance of colloids in the migration of relevant radionuclides. This task was incorporated into tasks 1 and 2. A 4 th task was initiated in FY20, to investigate the role of organics in facilitating radionuclide transport under the same conditions explored in task 1 due to the high organic content of the rocks being investigated for the immediate borehole locations. Preliminary results will be summarized here and the work will continue in FY21-23. The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the role of colloids (naturally occurring < 1 micron particles) in facilitating the transport of long-lived radionuclides from a nuclear waste repository situated in fractured carbonate rocks. Currently little data exists on radionuclide transport in carbonate rocks, but this is the main rock type available for siting a repository in Israel. Laboratory experiments were carried out in both Israel and the U.S., field experiments have taken place in Israel, and reactive transport modeling involved LLNL, LANL and Israel partner institutions. LLNL hosted a graduate student, Emily Tran, from Ben Gurion University in FY18 and FY19 and much of the work presented here was part of her PhD research.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Iodine Waste Form Corrosion: PNNL Summary Testing Report

A test method to correlate the laboratory corrosion behavior of iodine-containing waste forms (IWFs) to a conceptual long-term corrosion models is required. Several candidate methods have been evaluated previously, and each method presents unique challenges and limitations. Dynamic leach tests have emerged as the preferred candidate test method to evaluate IWFs and parameterize an eventual long-term corrosion model. This report was prepared in support of this effort to define the test suite to evaluate the corrosion of IWFs, with the goal of defining and parameterizing a conceptual long-term corrosion model. A review was presented highlighting the high degree of variability between the IWF corrosion data that is available in the literature and the need for a standardized test suite. The targeted test suite is composed of a single interval screening test, a dynamic leach test, and post-test solid characterization of the monolithic IWF samples. The data presented serves two purposes: to expand the range of IWFs evaluated with the test suite to assess method variability and to further understand the corrosion of IWFs to best inform conceptual long-term corrosion model development. A series of IWF types were included in the testing, including hot isostatically pressed Ag-mordenite, silver functionalized silica-based aerogels, iodosodalites (hot isostatic pressing, sintered, glass bonded ceramic), iodoapatite, tellurite glass and glass composite materials.

42 ENGINEERING↗

CISME report on experiments with HMX powder, PBX 9501 prills, and heated PBX 9501

The ability to predict post-ignition explosive response is relevant to explosives safety, particularly weapons assembly/disassembly operations that must operate under a sufficiently conservative safety basis to meet risk mitigation criteria for inadvertent nuclear detonation (IND). In particular, hazard determinations hinge on whether the PBX 9501 main charge can ultimately attain detonation from an initial, non-shock, ignition stimulus. The CISME experiment uses a spherical explosive charge, which is thermally ignited in the center using a fiber-delivered infrared laser pulse. This ignition mechanism - i.e. a localized thermal hotspot - is representative of the ignition-causing insults typical in accident scenarios, including low-velocity impact, drop, skid, and punch events. In fiscal year 2018 CISME experiments were conducted with pristine PBX 9501 spheres, confined and unconfined. Sub-detonative, low-violence reactions were observed. Here we report experiments conducted since 2018. The explosive charge was varied: experiments were conducted with room temperature pour-density HMX powder and prills of PBX 9501, and heated, thermally damaged PBX 9501. Experiments were conducted in a confined configuration, with two 4 mm-thick stainless-steel hemispherical shells bolted around the sphere. Detonation, via DDT (deflagration-to-detonation transition) was observed in the 3-inch diameter powdered HMX and the 6-inch diameter heated and thermally-damaged PBX 9501 tests. No transition to DDT was observed in smaller diameters for those configurations, and no DDT was observed for pour-density prills of PBX 9501 of any diameter. The original test series demonstrated that the response of pristine, undamaged PBX 9501 to a central ignition is relatively benign. This new test series shows that increased porosity, lack of polymer binders and thermal damage can greatly increase the violence of the post-ignition response, up to and including detonation. These results bridge the explosive response of PBX 9501 from sub-detonative through detonation as a function of diameter and provide valuable test cases for modeling efforts that strive to capture the DDT threshold. By exploring explosive response in a more representative 3D geometry, we can also benchmark these new results to more plentiful DDT datasets generated from testing in 1D tube confinement (the historical test configuration)–the configuration upon which almost all DDT models were developed.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Adaptive complex nanocomposite alloys for burning plasma-material interface tunability (Final Report)

The focus of this program is discovery and development of novel self-healing and adaptive materials for the PMI (plasma-material interface) envisioned for future plasma-burning extreme environments in thermonuclear fusion reactors that can provide enhanced radiation-tolerance or resistance. This program was conceived and stems from the PI’s DOE Early Career Award work on harnessing nanotechnology and mesoscale materials design in refractory metals to address gaps in PMI research. These gaps pertain to the lack of understanding of multi-scale interactions at the plasma-material interface and the development of novel material interfaces that can be designed to adapt to extreme fusion reactor conditions. The final report is separated into two primary sections: The first section consists of the program’s first two years (FY16-FY17) performance period. The second section consists of FY18 to FY19 period, where the FY19 period was a supplemental addition to support the completion of a PhD thesis and continuation of another. This work consists of an excellent team consisting of a co-PI, one postdoctoral researcher, two graduate students, two undergraduate students and collaborators both domestic and abroad.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Long Range Community Planning Process for Fusion Sciences and Plasma Physics (Final Technical Report)

This grant facilitated the APS-DPP Community Planning Process (DPP-CPP) which was a strategic planning process with the goals of identifying scientific and technological opportunities in the fields of Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Science, and making consensus recommendations for a strategy to address these opportunities to the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee (FESAC). The DPP-CPP was initiated by the APS-DPP executive committee in order to help FESAC fulfill a charge from DOE to develop a strategic plan for the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Science (FES). In this charge, the DOE Deputy Director for Science, Dr. Stephen Binkley, requests “that the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) undertake a new long-range strategic planning activity for the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program. The strategic planning activity - to encompass the entire FES research portfolio (namely, burning plasma science and discovery plasma science) - should identify and prioritize the research required to advance both the scientific foundation needed to develop a fusion energy source, as well as the broader FES mission to steward plasma science.” The process as set out in the proposal (and below) was successful in meeting all of its stated goals culminating in the final report to the FESAC subcommittee given the charge.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Enabling Efficiencies > 22.5% with Metal Oxide Passivating Contacts using Low-Cost Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition (Final Technical Report)

In this project, the University of Central Florida (UCF) worked to both increase module efficiency and reduce manufacturing cost by driving demonstrated lab-scale passivating contact technology using materials and processes compatible with high-volume manufacturing for crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) cells. Passivating contacts have garnered significant attention in recent years. They provide a means of suppressing contact recombination, a loss mechanism that limits the performance of industrially relevant cell architectures like Al back surface field (Al-BSF) cells and passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC). Most of the development of passivating contact technology has focused on the use of doped amorphous silicon or doped polysilicon contacts, but both suffer from parasitic optical absorption amongst other issues. Our team developed fully transparent hole-selective heterojunctions, deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD), and showed how they could be incorporated into c-Si PV cells. The team conducted experiments to understand the process-structure-property relationship of hole-selective oxides, surface passivation oxide materials, and transparent conductive oxides deposited by ALD, and use that understanding to reduce contact recombination, contact resistivity, and parasitic optical absorption within c-Si PV cells. Before getting into the details of the report, we would like to note that COVID-19 has made it more challenging to conduct experimental research at UCF. UCF has a number of mandatory policies in place to ensure social distancing, testing, and contact tracing are all carried out in day-to-day operations. Despite these challenges, we worked diligently to make progress on this project in a manner that was as safe as possible. Over the course of the project, the UCF team and its collaborators have made the following discoveries and developments.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

The Outdoor Lighting Accelerator: Lighting the Way Forward (Final Report)

This final report outlines the work performed by DOE’s Better Buildings Outdoor Lighting Accelerator, through which cities, states, and regional groups explored best practice approaches to improve the way communities apply advanced outdoor lighting technologies in parking lots and highways. It describes the related work of participants, including designing regional bonding authorities or joint purchasing programs, financing streetlight upgrades, and more.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Preliminary Theoretical Analysis of Mixed Precision Krylov Subspace Methods (Q3 Report)

The third quarter of the project was spent performing theoretical finite precision analysis of Krylov subspace method variants that use mixed precision. Our focus here is on the Conjugate Gradient (CG) method and the Lanczos method. We have performed an analysis of maximum attainable accuracy for the classical CG method in which 3 precisions are used: a working precision ε, a precision ε IP for the inner product computations, and a precision ε MV for the matrix-vector products. Our results show that performing inner product computations in lower precision does not affect the attainable accuracy. Further, we have performed a complete error analysis of the s-step Lanczos algorithm. In this case, we show that the numerical behavior of the algorithm can be significantly improved by using extra precision in a small part of the computation. We summarize the main theorems in the remainder of the document. Other activities include attending biweekly xSDK meetings. The subsequent quarter will be spent finalizing these results into technical reports and/or manuscripts for submission to journals, as well as identifying opportunities for future work.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

TEX-HEU: Integral Experiments with Highly Enriched Uranium and Polyethylene (IER-297 CED-3b Report)

This report documents the experimental critical configurations and measurements for IER-297, Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) using highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel, moderated and reflected by polyethylene. These experiments establish the baseline TEX-HEU configurations spanning thermal, intermediate, and fast fission energy regimes. The experiment campaign was completed in FY2020 at the National Critical Experiments Research Center at the Nevada National Security Site. The campaign produced six documented critical configurations (0”, ¹/₈” A, ¹/₈” B, ¹/₄”, ¹/₂”, and 1¹/₂”) and one reproducibility measurement (¹/₈” R). Table 1 summarizes these seven experiments along with their period and calculated reactivity, in order of execution. The Comet General Purpose Critical Assembly Machine was used to conduct the TEX-HEU experiments. The HEU fuel consists of U(93+) plates, collectively known as the “Jemima” plates. Each experiment consisted of an alternating stack of these HEU plates with or without polyethylene moderator plates. By varying the thicknesses of the polyethylene plates, the neutron spectrum of the experiment could be fine-tuned to a specific fission energy regime. The experiments were reflected by 1” of polyethylene consisting of a bottom and top plate and outer reflector rings to surround the HEU and polyethylene plates. The fine reactivity control of the system was provided by the thickness of the top reflector plate, which could be varied in increments of ¹/₃₂”.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗