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DOE OSTI2015

Severe Accident Test Station Design Document

The purpose of the ORNL severe accident test station (SATS) is to provide a platform for evaluation of advanced fuels under projected beyond design basis accident (BDBA) conditions. The SATS delivers the capability to map the behavior of advanced fuels concepts under accident scenarios across various temperature and pressure profiles, steam and steam-hydrogen gas mixtures, and thermal shock. The overall facility will include parallel capabilities for examination of fuels and irradiated materials (in-cell) and non-irradiated materials (out-of-cell) at BDBA conditions as well as design basis accident (DBA) or loss of coolant accident (LOCA) conditions. Also, a supporting analytical infrastructure to provide the data-needs for the fuel-modeling components of the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) program will be put in place in a parallel manner. This design report contains the information for the first, second and third phases of design and construction of the SATS. The first phase consisted of the design and construction of an out-of-cell BDBA module intended for examination of non-irradiated materials. The second phase of this work was to construct the BDBA in-cell module to test irradiated fuels and materials as well as the module for DBA (i.e. LOCA) testing out-of-cell, The third phase was to build the in-cell DBA module. The details of the design constraints and requirements for the in-cell facility have been closely captured during the deployment of the out-of-cell SATS modules to ensure effective future implementation of the in-cell modules.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Humidity data for 9975 shipping packages with cane fiberboard

The 9975 surveillance program is developing a technical basis to support extending the storage period of 9975 packages in K-Area Complex beyond the currently approved 15 years. A key element of this effort is developing a better understanding of degradation of the fiberboard assembly under storage conditions. This degradation is influenced greatly by the moisture content of the fiberboard, which is not well characterized on an individual package basis. Direct measurements of humidity and fiberboard moisture content have been made on two test packages with cane fiberboard and varying internal heat levels from 0 up to 19W. With an internal heat load, a temperature gradient in the fiberboard assembly leads to varying relative humidity in the air around the fiberboard. However, the absolute humidity tends to remain approximately constant throughout the package. The moisture content of fiberboard varies under the influence of several phenomena. Changes in local fiberboard temperature (from an internal heat load) can cause fiberboard moisture changes through absorption or evaporation. Fiberboard degradation at elevated temperature will produce water as a byproduct. And the moisture level within the package is constantly seeking equilibrium with that of the surrounding room air, which varies on a daily and seasonal basis. One indicator of the moisture condition within a 9975 package might be obtained by measuring the relative humidity in the upper air space, by inserting a humidity probe through a caplug hole. However, the data indicate that for the higher internal heat loads (15 and 19 watts), a large variation in internal moisture conditions produces little or no variation in the air space relative humidity. Therefore, this approach does not appear to be sensitive to fiberboard moisture variations at the higher heat loads which are of most interest to maintaining fiberboard integrity.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2016

Report on the Second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2) Roll, Pitch, and Heave (RPH) Stabilization Platform: Design and Evaluation

One of the primary objectives of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s second Mobile Facility (AMF2) is to obtain reliable measurements of solar, surface, and atmospheric radiation, as well as cloud and atmospheric properties, from ocean-going vessels. To ensure that these climatic measurements are representative and accurate, many AMF2 instrument systems are designed to collect data in a zenith orientation. A pillar of the AMF2 strategy in this effort is the use of a stable platform. The purpose of the platform is to 1) mitigate vessel motion for instruments that require a truly vertical orientation and keep them pointed in the zenith direction, and 2) allow for accurate positioning for viewing or shading of the sensors from direct sunlight. Numerous ARM instruments fall into these categories, but perhaps the most important are the vertically pointing cloud radars, for which vertical motions are a critical parameter. During the design and construction phase of AMF2, an inexpensive stable platform was purchased to perform the stabilization tasks for some of these instruments. The first table compensated for roll, pitch, and yaw (RPY) and was reported upon in a previous technical report (Kafle and Coulter, 2012). Subsequently, a second table was purchased specifically for operation with the Marine W-band cloud radar (MWACR). Computer programs originally developed for RPY were modified to communicate with the new platform controller and with an inertial measurements platform that measures true ship motion components (roll, pitch, yaw, surge, sway, and heave). This platform could not be tested dynamically for RPY because of time constraints requiring its deployment aboard the container ship Horizon Spirit in September 2013. Hence the initial motion tests were conducted on the initial cruise. Subsequent cruises provided additional test results. The platform, as tested, meets all the design and performance criteria established for its use. This is a report of the results of those efforts and the critical points in moving forward

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Report on the Second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2) Stabilization Platform: Control Strategy and Implementation

One of the primary objectives of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s second Mobile Facility (AMF2) is to obtain reliable measurements from ocean-going vessels. A pillar of the AMF2 strategy in this effort is the use of a stable platform for those instruments that 1) need to look directly at, or be shaded from, direct sunlight or 2) require a truly vertical orientation. Some ARM instruments that fall into these categories include the Multi-Filter Rotating Shadow Band Radiometer (MFRSR) and the Total Sky Imager (TSI), both of which have a shadow band mechanism, upward-looking radiometry that should be exposed only to the sky, a Microwave Radiometer (MWR) that looks vertically and at specified tilt angles, and vertically pointing radars, for which the vertical component of motion is critically important. During the design and construction phase of AMF2, an inexpensive stable platform was purchased to perform the stabilization tasks for some of these instruments. Computer programs were developed to communicate with the platform controller and with an inertial measurements platform that measures true ship motion components (roll, pitch, yaw, surge, sway, and heave). The platform was then tested on a 3-day cruise aboard the RV Connecticut during June 16-18, 2010, off the east coast of the United States. This initial test period was followed by continued development of the platform control strategy and implementation as time permitted. This is a report of the results of these efforts and the critical points in moving forward.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

2015 Fermilab Laboratory Directed Research & Development Annual Report

The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) is conducting a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. Fiscal year 2015 represents the first full year of LDRD at Fermilab and includes seven projects approved mid-year in FY14 and six projects approved in FY15. One of the seven original projects has been completed just after the beginning of FY15. The implementation of LDRD at Fermilab is captured in the approved Fermilab 2015 LDRD Annual Program Plan. In FY15, the LDRD program represents 0.64% of Laboratory funding. The scope of the LDRD program at Fermilab will be established over the next couple of years where a portfolio of about 20 on-going projects representing approximately between 1% and 1.5% of the Laboratory funding is anticipated. This Annual Report focuses on the status of the current projects and provides an overview of the current status of LDRD at Fermilab.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Evaluation of Lower East Fork Poplar Creek Mercury Sources

This report summarizes a 3-year research project undertaken to better understand the nature and magnitude of mercury (Hg) fluxes in East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC). This project addresses the requirements of Action Plan 1 in the 2011 Oak Ridge Reservation-wide Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act Five Year Review (FYR). The Action Plan is designed to address a twofold 2011 FYR issue: (1) new information suggests mobilization of mercury from the upper and lower EFPC streambeds and stream banks is the primary source of mercury export during high-flow conditions, and (2) the current Record of Decision did not address the entire hydrologic system and creek bank or creek bed sediments. To obtain a more robust watershed-scale understanding of mercury sources and processes in lower EFPC (LEFPC), new field and laboratory studies were coupled with existing data from multiple US Department of Energy programs to develop a dynamic watershed and bioaccumulation model. LEFPC field studies for the project focused primarily on quantification of streambank erosion and an evaluation of mercury dynamics in shallow groundwater adjacent to LEFPC and potential connection to the surface water. The approach to the stream bank study was innovative in using imagery from kayak floats’ surveys from the headwaters to the mouth of EFPC to estimate erosion, coupled with detailed bank soil mercury analyses. The goal of new field assessments and modeling was to generate a more holistic and quantitative understanding of the watershed and the sources, flux, concentration, transformation, and bioaccumulation of inorganic mercury (IHg) and methylmercury (MeHg). Model development used a hybrid approach that dynamically linked a spreadsheet-based physical and chemical watershed model to a systems dynamics, mercury bioaccumulation model for key fish species. The watershed model tracks total Hg and MeHg fluxes and concentrations by examining upstream inputs, floodplain runoff, floodplain leaching, bank soil erosion, and periphyton matrix dynamics. The bioaccumulation model tracks the feeding, growth, and mercury assimilation of representative individual fish through their typical life span using key inputs of fish size, water temperature, and diet. The LEFPC watershed was divided into five modeling reaches, and fluxes and concentrations are assessed at this spatial scale. Following are the key findings of the field and laboratory studies and the watershed and bioaccumulation modeling: • The greatest flux of total mercury (HgT) in LEFPC is related to stormflow transport of Hg-contaminated solids entering the creek because of bank erosion in the upper reaches of the creek. • The second greatest flux originates from upper EFPC (Station 17 representing the exit stream sampling point near the boundary of the Y-12 Complex), and appears to control base flow fluxes. • The observed increase in MeHg concentration and flux from upstream to downstream is related primarily to instream methylation by periphyton and other biological activity. • A meaningful substantial reduction of the HgT flux in LEFPC would require addressing the flux of HgT originating from bank erosion and from Station 17. • Actions to reduce LEFPC floodplain leaching and runoff would not produce much of an impact on HgT or MeHg concentrations or fluxes unless other major sources are eliminated first. This project addresses the Action Plan goal to evaluate the role of LEFPC bank soil sources and to consider the entire EFPC hydrologic system. Model conclusions are dependent on the data available at the time of this assessment. However, a robust understanding and quantification for some mercury-related parameters and relationships is still lacking; there is a continued need for field data collection and modeling improvements. Model predictions should be viewed cautiously, with comparisons of the magnitude of predictions between scenarios being more valid than absolute predictions of concentrations or fluxes. With continued updates and refinement, the watershed-scale model can be a useful, valuable tool for future EFPC research prioritization, technology development, and remedial decision-making.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Final Report on XStack: Software Synthesis for High Productivity ExaScale Computing

The goal of the project was to develop a programming model that would significantly improve productivity in the high-performance computing domain by bringing together three components: a) Automated equivalence checking, b) Sketch-based program synthesis, and c) Autotuning. The report provides an executive summary of the research accomplished through this project. At the end of the report is appended a paper that describes in more detail the key technical accomplishments from this project, and which was published in SC 2014.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2016

Criticality safety evaluation for the Advanced Test Reactor enhanced low enriched uranium fuel elements

The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) convert program is developing a high uranium density fuel based on a low enriched uranium (LEU) uranium-molybdenum alloy. Testing of prototypic GTRI fuel elements is necessary to demonstrate integrated fuel performance behavior and scale-up of fabrication techniques. GTRI Enhanced LEU Fuel (ELF) elements based on the ATR-Standard Size elements (all plates fueled) are to be fabricated for testing in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). While a specific ELF element design will eventually be provided for detailed analyses and in-core testing, this criticality safety evaluation (CSE) is intended to evaluate a hypothetical ELF element design for criticality safety purposes. Existing criticality analyses have analyzed Standard (HEU) ATR elements from which controls have been derived. This CSE documents analysis that determines the reactivity of the hypothetical ELF fuel elements relative to HEU ATR elements and whether the existing HEU ATR element controls bound the ELF element. The initial calculations presented in this CSE analyzed the original ELF design, now referred to as Mod 0.1. In addition, as part of a fuel meat thickness optimization effort for reactor performance, other designs have been evaluated. As of early 2014 the most current conceptual designs are Mk1A and Mk1B, that were previously referred to as conceptual designs Mod 0.10 and Mod 0.11, respectively. Revision 1 evaluates the reactivity of the ATR HEU Mark IV elements for a comparison with the Mark VII elements.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2016

LDRD Highlights at the National Laboratories

To meet the nation’s critical challenges, the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories have always pushed the boundaries of science, technology, and engineering. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provided the basis for these laboratories to engage in the cutting edge of science and technology and respond to technological surprises, while retaining the best scientific and technological minds. To help re-energize this commitment, in 1991 the U.S. Congress authorized the national laboratories to devote a relatively small percentage of their budget to creative and innovative work that serves to maintain their vitality in disciplines relevant to DOE missions. Since then, this effort has been formally called the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program. LDRD has been an essential mechanism to enable the laboratories to address DOE’s current and future missions with leading-edge research proposed independently by laboratory technical staff, evaluated through expert peer-review committees, and funded by the individual laboratories consistent with the authorizing legislation and the DOE LDRD Order 413.2C.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Humidity Data for 9975 Shipping Packages with Softwood Fiberboard

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2017

FY 2016 Site-Directed Research & Development Annual Report

As the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) continues to evolve and transition its mission to a broader scope, significant challenges lie ahead that present unique opportunities for our research and development (R&D) enterprise. At the juncture, we are poised to create a different future investment strategy. Our decisions at the beginning of a new tri-decade span must be guided as expertly as possible given the greater complexity and multifaceted nature of our work.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2017

(U) Physics Validation of the RMI-Based Ejecta Source Model Implementation in FLAG: L2 Milestone #6035 Report

The Los Alamos Physics and Engineering Models (PEM) program has developed a model for Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) based ejecta production from shock-melted surfaces, along with a prescription for a self-similar velocity distribution (SSVD) of the resulting ejecta particles. We have undertaken an effort to validate this source model using data from explosively driven tin coupon experiments. The model’s current formulation lacks a crucial piece of physics: a method for determining the duration of the ejecta production interval. Without a mechanism for terminating ejecta production, the model is not predictive. Furthermore, when the production interval is hand-tuned to match time-integrated mass data, the predicted time-dependent mass accumulation on a downstream sensor rises too sharply at early times and too slowly at late times because the SSVD overestimates the amount of mass stored in the fastest particles and underestimates the mass stored in the slowest particles. The functional form of the resulting m(t) is inconsistent with the available time-dependent data; numerical simulations and analytic studies agree on this point. Simulated mass tallies are highly sensitive to radial expansion of the ejecta cloud. It is not clear if the same effect is present in the experimental data but if so, depending on the degree, this may challenge the model’s compatibility with tin coupon data. The current implementation of the model in FLAG is sensitive to the detailed interaction between kinematics (hydrodynamic methods) and thermodynamics (material models); this sensitivity prohibits certain physics modeling choices. The appendices contain an extensive analytic study of piezoelectric ejecta mass measurements, along with test problems, excerpted from a longer work (LA-UR-17-21218).

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2017

Renewable hydrogen production via thermochemical/electrochemical coupling

A coupled electrochemical/thermochemical cycle was investigated to produce hydrogen from renewable resources. Like a conventional thermochemical cycle, this cycle leverages chemical energy stored in a thermochemical working material that is reduced thermally by solar energy. However, in this concept, the stored chemical energy only needs to be partially, but not fully, capable of splitting steam to produce hydrogen. To complete the process, a proton-conducting membrane is driven to separate hydrogen as it is produced, thus shifting the thermodynamics toward further hydrogen production. This novel coupled-cycle concept provides several benefits. First, the required oxidation enthalpy of the reversible thermochemical material is reduced, enabling the process to occur at lower temperatures. Second, removing the requirement for spontaneous steam-splitting widens the scope of materials compositions, allowing for less expensive/more abundant elements to be used. Lastly, thermodynamics calculations suggest that this concept can potentially reach higher efficiencies than photovoltaic-to-electrolysis hydrogen production methods. This Exploratory Express LDRD involved assessing the practical feasibility of the proposed coupled cycle. A test stand was designed and constructed and proton-conducting membranes were synthesized. While the full proof of concept was not achieved, the individual components of the experiment were validated and new capabilities that can be leveraged by a variety of programs were developed.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2017

FY2017 Report on NISC Measurements and Detector Simulations

FY17 work focused on automation, both of the measurement analysis and comparison of simulations. The experimental apparatus was relocated and weeks of continuous measurements of the spontaneous fission source 252 Cf was performed. Programs were developed to automate the conversion of measurements into ROOT data framework files with a simple terminal input. The complete analysis of the measurement (which includes energy calibration and the identification of correlated counts) can now be completed with a documented process which involves one simple execution line as well. Finally, the hurdles of slow MCNP simulations resulting in low simulation statistics have been overcome with the generation of multi-run suites which make use of the highperformance computing resources at LANL. Preliminary comparisons of measurements and simulations have been performed and will be the focus of FY18 work.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2017

SRNL 2016 LDRD Annual Report

An innovative and effective Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program is the lifeblood of a National Laboratory, positioning it for future growth in key mission areas. For Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), the LDRD program provides an avenue for early exploration and exploitation of creative ideas that will enhance the ability of the lab to support the critical DOE missions in environmental stewardship, national security, clean energy, and nuclear materials management.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2015

FY14 Laboratory Directed Research and Development Annual Report

This report summarizes progress from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program during fiscal year 2014. In addition to the programmatic and financial overview, the report includes progress reports from 419 individual R&D projects in 16 categories. Information for 176 projects in their final year is presented in a more comprehensive format, while for those 243 in their pre-final years, only an abstract is presented herein.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2018

Investigate Strategies to Increase Residential Energy Code Compliance Rates and Measure Results in North Carolina: Final Report

The proposed project implemented and tested methods to assess compliance with the energy code, developed educational programs and resources targeted at key compliance issues, conducted a statewide outreach and training campaign, taught building and inspection professionals about key issues of compliance with the energy code, and conducted a follow-up study to see how compliance rates changed.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2018

Fast Approximate Union Volume in High Dimensions with Line Samples

The classical problem of calculating the volume of the union of d-dimensional balls is known as "Union Volume." We present line-sampling approximation algorithms for Union Volume. Our methods may be extended to other Boolean operations, such as setminus; or to other shapes, such as hyper-rectangles. The deterministic, exact approaches for Union Volume do not scale well to high dimensions. However, we adapt several of these exact approaches to approximation algorithms based on sampling. We perform local sampling within each ball using lines. We have several variations, depending on how the overlapping volume is partitioned, and depending on whether radial, axis-aligned, or other line patterns are used. Our variations fall within the family of Monte Carlo sampling, and hence have about the same theoretical convergence rate, 1 /$\sqrt{M}$, where M is the number of samples. In our limited experiments, line-sampling proved more accurate per unit work than point samples, because a line sample provides more information, and the analytic equation for a sphere makes the calculation almost as fast. We performed a limited empirical study of the efficiency of these variations. We suggest a more extensive study for future work. We speculate that different ball arrangements, differentiated by the distribution of overlaps in terms of volume and degree, will benefit the most from patterns of line samples that preferentially capture those overlaps. Acknowledgement We thank Karl Bringman for explaining his BF-ApproxUnion (ApproxUnion) algorithm [3] to us. We thank Josiah Manson for pointing out that spoke darts oversample the center and we might get a better answer by uniform sampling. We thank Vijay Natarajan for suggesting random chord sampling. The authors are grateful to Brian Adams, Keith Dalbey, and Vicente Romero for useful technical discussions. This work was sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program at Sandia National Laboratories. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), Applied Mathematics Program. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗