SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “data requests”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,729 records · Page 96

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2019

Parallel storage system with burst buffer appliance for storage of partitioned key-value store across a plurality of storage tiers

Parallel storage systems are provided with a burst buffer appliance for storage of a partitioned key-value store across a plurality of storage tiers. The burst buffer appliance is configured to store key-value data on first and second storage tiers comprising respective disjoint subsets of storage. One or more servers in the partitioned key-value store provide (i) an interface between one or more local key-value stores and one or more additional storage architectures, and/or (ii) a key value interface that provides access to at least one hardware key-value store. The local key-values are optionally sorted both locally by the local store and globally by the overall MDHIM framework. The local and global sorting can be leveraged to provide batch input/output (IO) operations that aggregate multiple requests into batch operations on one or more sorted ranges.

Bent, John M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Metadata Entry Optimization for NASA's Biological Institutional Scientific Collection (NBISC)

The NASA Biological Institutional Sample Collection (NBISC) at NASA’s Ames Research Center is a critical resource housing non-human samples collected from spaceflight missions and ground analog studies, primarily consisting of specimens from rats, mice, and select microbes. The primary objective of NBISC is to systematically receive, document, preserve, and facilitate access to these samples for the global scientific community. NBISC promotes international collaboration and maximizes the return on investment for precious tissues from spaceflight and analog experiments. Researchers can request physical samples through an online request form and subsequent written proposal review process. This study addresses two core research objectives: streamlining the NBISC sample lifecycle processes and strategizing for managing an influx of 50,000 tissue samples from a series of cosmic radiation analog experiments carried out at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) by Drs. Eleanor Chang (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) and Polly Blakely (SRI). The Chang/Blakely studies investigated Harderian gland (HG) tumorigenesis in mice exposed to low dose and LET radiation comprising 8 different exposure protocols in over 4000 mice. NBISC sample metadata is stored in a Laboratory Information Management System (SLIMS). To streamline sample data entry, we customize python scripts using information extracted from the individual experimental protocols. The scripts automate entry into multiple SLIMS data fields including protocol name, unique sample barcode, tissue and sub-tissue information, freezer location, sample preservation method, etc. The semi-automated procedure significantly decreases the time spent on data entry by several orders of magnitude. Automation and data organization are essential, as they free up time for curation and promotion of the collection which, in turn, increase the accessibility of samples to the broader research community. NBISC benefits from streamlined data ingestion, and the methodologies developed here are applicable to other projects which use SLIMS including the NASA Biospecimen Sharing Program and GeneLab. As of Fall 2023, plans include transferring sample data from SLIMS to public facing repositories (OSDR and NLSP), expanding the reach of the Chang/Blakely sample collection. The Human Research Program Space Radiation Element plans to transfer non-human tissues from many more investigations to NBISC in the coming year.

Sample Repository↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Metadata Entry Optimization For NASA's Biological Institutional Scientific Collection (NBISC)

Biospecimen↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Applying Satellite Data to Support Disaster Response and Emergency Management Decision Making

Using the vantage point of space, satellite observations provide information about the Earth that can serve a critical role in building situational awareness and filling in data gaps during disaster response. NASA’s Earth Science Division ( studies the Earth as a system and develops technologies to improve the quality of life here on our home planet. Within NASA ESD, the Disasters Program and its Disasters Response Coordination System (DRCS) aims to advance Earth science data and information to support management decisions that prevent or mitigate the impacts of disasters. Using a whole-of-NASA approach to coordinate and mobilize the Agency’s assets and expertise to provide geospatial information during disasters, this work brings the utility of Earth observation information to emergency management and disaster response and reduces the impacts of disasters on lives and livelihoods .This poster will introduce the utility of satellite and geospatial information to disaster response through examples of recent DRCS incident response activations and highlight the DRCS model that employs a user-centered activation framework beginning with direct requests from responders and ending with after-action assessments that feed lessons learned and process improvements.

Remote Sensing↗

DOE OSTI2014

2013 Community Earth System Model (CESM) Tutorial-Proposal to DOE

THE SAME REQUEST WILL BE SENT TO BOTH NSF AND DOE TO EACH SUPPORT $35K. The third annual Community Earth System Model (CESM) tutorial for students and early career scientists was held from 30 July to 3 August, 2012. This event was extremely successful and, as for the tutorials in previous years, there was a greater demand than could be met. This indicates a continuing need for a tutorial of this type and we anticipate that the 2013 tutorial will be well received. The tutorial will include lectures on simulating the climate system and practical sessions on running CESM, modifying components, and analyzing data. These will be targeted to the graduate student level. Attendance will be limited to a maximum of 80 students with financial support for up to 40 students. Attendees will be balanced across institutions.

Holland, Marika↗

DOE OSTI2023

Final Design for Thermal/Epithermal eXperiments (TEX) with Chloride Absorbers to Provide Validation Benchmarks for Y-12 Electrorefining Facility

Uranium electrorefining operations at Y-12 require validation for chlorine absorption and reflection. Plutonium chloride solution operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory require chlorine absorption validation. The growing need for chlorine validation is evident to the wider criticality safety community, with multiple attendees at the recent TEX 2.0 meeting at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (May 2023) requesting validation for chlorine (Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Institute de radioprotection et de surete nucleaire (IRSN), Savannah River Nuclear Site (SRNS), LANL, and Y-12). Los Alamos National Laboratory has recently performed, and benchmarked, an experiment titled Chlorine Worth Study (CWS) for the internal operations at the lab, but due to the difficulties in precisely characterizing the material compositions of the chlorine absorbers it is advantageous to perform a complimentary study with a different chlorine-based absorber material. Furthermore, having a uranium-based vs plutonium-based experiment provides a separate and important validation basis for criticality safety and nuclear data evaluation. The original final design report for the study of chlorine absorption using the TEX-HEU experimental base was presented in 2022, but used the same chlorine-bearing materials that were found to be difficult to characterize in the LANL benchmark. A complete redesign of the experiment has been performed looking at alternative absorber materials in various forms to produce an experiment that is fully characterizable. This report presents five novel chlorine experiments using the TEX-HEU test bed which provides direct comparison to the Y-12 and INL/Terrapower application needs, utilizing sodium chloride (NaCl) absorber plates. The absorber plates will consist of granulated NaCl (≥99.5% pure), which will be fully encapsulated in aluminum tins, providing a simple but effective chlorine-based absorber material that can be completely characterized. Of the five configurations presented in this report, it is expected that two or three configurations will be down selected for the actual experiment, with the other configurations being alternates. Three of the configurations are in the standard configuration, where the absorber is placed directly on the HEU fuel plates, and two in the sandwich configuration, where the absorber is surrounded by polyethylene moderators to force additional neutron thermalization prior to reaching the absorber. There are two thicknesses of NaCl absorber plates: 3/16” and 1/4” active thicknesses (i.e. not including the encapsulation). Both variations of the absorbers have an active absorber radius of 6” and a total radius of 7.5” to match the diameter of the HEU plates, with the outer 1.5” being aluminum encapsulation. The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) moderators are of the thicknesses: 27/16”, 7/4”, 1/8”, 11/16”, and 3/4”. The final configurations have six (one sandwich and one standard configuration), eight (one sandwich and one standard configuration), and 18 total fuel layers (standard configuration). The standard and sandwich configurations were designed such that the differences in moderator thicknesses are 1” HDPE, which were already procured for the original CED-2. The proposed configurations were precisely tuned to closely match the sensitivity profiles and neutron spectra of the Y-12 upset cases and were also compared to the INL/Terrapower upset cases. The assessment of experimental uncertainties of the non-absorber components was predicted to be 0.00114 Δk eff . The assessment of uncertainties resulting from the absorbers was predicted to be 0.00029 Δk eff . This results in a total uncertainty of 0.00118 Δk eff . Many of the largest uncertainties, namely the moderator densities, may be reduced with precision dimensional inspection of the components. The 1” HDPE moderators as well as the HDPE reflectors from the original CED-2 were incorporated in the final designs presented here. Additional HDPE moderator plates must be fabricated to complete the configurations. NaCl absorber plates will by fabricated at LLNL. The total additional cost is expected to be $\$$54,250 for the remaining components. Precise inspection, including dimensional, mass, density, and impurity, is recommended for all components. LLNL estimates that these costs are around $\$$12,000. It is expected, based on previous TEX-HEU experiments, that three weeks of experimental facility time is needed to complete the experiments.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Restart File Improvements for MPACT

This report documents the work performed to address several defects and features request related to the restart capability in MPACT. The following defects were fixed as a part of this milestone: • #3616 (Defect) Error in MPACT Restart Files with BPRs, • #3637 (Defect) Restart with Semi-PC Yields Inconsistent Results, • #3652 (Defect) Fix Incorrect Exposure Value on HDF File After Restart, • #3777 (Defect) Fix State Point Number when Using Restart File, • #3986 (Defect) Pin Exposures are Incorrect, • #4106 (Defect) Pin Exposures Equal to Zero After Restart, and • #4288 (Defect) Core Average Exposure Wrong when Reading Restart Files. The new features that were added are: • Axial Re-meshing capability, • Incorporation of MAMBA-1D data necessary to restart coupled MPACT/CTF/MAMBA calculations, and • Addition of state variables to the restart file. Numerous tests were also implemented to verify and protect these features and this report was prepared to document the work performed.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA NTRS1984

Orbiter middeck/payload standard interfaces control document

The interfaces which shall be provided by the baseline shuttle mid-deck for payload use within the mid-deck area are defined, as well as all constraints which shall be observed by all the users of the defined interfaces. Commonality was established with respect to analytical approaches, analytical models, technical data and definitions for integrated analyses by all the interfacing parties. Any payload interfaces that are out of scope with the standard interfaces defined shall be defined in a Payload Unique Interface Control Document (ICD) for a given payload. Each Payload Unique ICD will have comparable paragraphs to this ICD and will have a corresponding notation of A, for applicable; N/A, for not applicable; N, for note added for explanation; and E, for exception. On any flight, the STS reserves the right to assign locations to both payloads mounted on an adapter plate(s) and payloads stored within standard lockers. Specific locations requests and/or requirements exceeding standard mid-deck payload requirements may result in a reduction in manifesting opportunities.

Source record↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Firmware Architecture of the ARMADAS Bolting Robot

The Automated Reconfigurable Mission Adaptive Digital Assembly Systems (ARMADAS) project, under development at NASA Ames Research Center, has demonstrated on-ground autonomous robotic assembly of extensive digital structures, and it is now moving forward towards in-space demonstration. The ARMADAS system comprises of the operation software, the operation user interface (opsUI), and a swarm of robots. The robotic system consists of a multitude of collaborative agents specifically designed to transport, place and bolt the building blocks, called voxels (volumetric pixels). This paper focuses on the bolting robot, referred to as Mobile Metamaterial Internal Co-Integrator (MMIC-I). MMIC-I is a battery-powered crawling robot. It navigates the structure through extension, contraction and gripping. Two distinct controller boards operate the robot's two symmetric modules, referred to as module A and B. Board A is the master board: it coordinates motion planning and motion primitives execution, hosts the WiFi client, performs periodic self-assessment and system idle check and triggers faults if anomalies are detected. Board B periodically sends a heartbeat to board A, through a wired communication channel that uses the Serial protocol. Additionally, board A's WiFi client receives heartbeat packet requests or motion/bolting commands from a dedicated server board, and acknowledges reception sending back a response heartbeat packet containing information about the overall robot status, e. g. electrical current and voltage values, target and actual angles, operating mode, fault status. Whenever a motion command is sent, the motion planning section of the firmware determines the current robot configuration, using Inertial Measurement Unit readings and the motors Pulse Width Modulation values. Afterwards, it calculates the list of primitives needed to reach the target state, and controls their execution in the proper order. MMIC-I can receive and execute motion and bolting commands only when it is in operational mode. MMIC-I has three operating modes: standby, operational and safed. Standby mode is automatically entered upon startup. While in standby mode, all motors are powered off, and the only accepted commands are the ones relative to a change of mode and heartbeat packet request. Fault detection causes the robot to automatically enter safed or standby mode. Whenever the detected fault occurs within a motion and requires immediate intervention, e. g. an over-current situation, the robot enters safed mode. Safed mode powers off all motors except for the locomotion module, thus preventing the robot from collapsing. Conversely, when the detected fault doesn't require immediate intervention (low battery warning, for instance), the robot enters standby mode after completing the ongoing motion. This paper provides a detailed discussion of MMIC-I's firmware architecture. It accurately describes the implementation approach for each module: sensor data reading, motor control and actuation, WiFi server-client communication, intra-boards Serial communication, operating modes and autonomous fault detection, motion planning, coordination and execution, etc. Moreover, in support of the software description, this paper includes a thorough characterization of MMIC-I's hardware and avionics.

In-space assembly↗

DOE OSTI2014

Independent Review of AFC 2A, 2B, and 2E ATR Irradiation Tests

As part of the Department of Energy Advanced Fuel Cycle program, a series of fuels development irradiation tests have been performed in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory. These tests are providing excellent data for advanced fuels development. The program is focused on the transmutation of higher actinides which best can be accomplished in a sodium-cooled fast reactor. Because a fast test reactor is no longer available in the US, a special test vehicle is used to achieve near-prototypic fast reactor conditions (neutron spectra and temperature) for use in ATR (a water-cooled thermal reactor). As part of the testing program, there were many successful tests of advanced fuels including metals and ceramics. Recently however, there have been three experimental campaigns using metal fuels that experienced failure during irradiation. At the request of the program, an independent review committee was convened to review the post-test analyses performed by the fuels development team, to assess the conclusions of the team for the cause of the failures, to assess the adequacy and completeness of the analyses, to identify issues that were missed, and to make recommendations for improvements in the design and operation of future tests. Although there is some difference of opinion, the review committee largely agreed with the conclusions of the fuel development team regarding the cause of the failures. For the most part, the analyses that support the conclusions are sufficient.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS2017

The Opportunity in Commercial Approaches for Future NASA Deep Space Exploration Elements

In 2011, NASA released a report assessing the market for commercial crew and cargo services to low Earth orbit (LEO). The report stated that NASA had spent a few hundred million dollars in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program on the portion related to the development of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Yet a NASA cost model predicted the cost would have been significantly more with a non-commercial cost-plus contracting approach. By 2016 a NASA request for information stated it must "maximize the efficiency and sustainability of the Exploration Systems development programs", as "critical to free resources for reinvestment...such as other required deep space exploration capabilities." This work joins the previous two events, showing the potential for commercial, public private partnerships, modeled on programs like COTS, to reduce the cost to NASA significantly for "...other required deep space exploration capabilities." These other capabilities include landers, stages and more. We mature the concept of "costed baseball cards", adding cost estimates to NASA's space systems "baseball cards." We show some potential costs, including analysis, the basis of estimates, data sources and caveats to address a critical question - based on initial assessment, are significant agency resources justified for more detailed analysis and due diligence to understand and invest in public private partnerships for human deep space exploration systems? The cost analysis spans commercial to cost-plus contracting approaches, for smaller elements vs. larger, with some variation for lunar or Mars. By extension, we delve briefly into the potentially much broader significance of the individual cost estimates if taken together as a NASA investment portfolio where public private partnership are stitched together for deep space exploration. How might multiple improvements in individual systems add up to NASA human deep space exploration achievements, realistically, affordably, sustainably, in a relevant timeframe?

cost modeling estimation↗

DOE OSTI2016

Studies of $\Lambda n$ interaction through polarization observables for final-state interactions in exclusive $\Lambda$ photoproduction off the deuteron

Theoretical studies suggest that experimental observables for hyperon production reactions can place stringent constraints on the free parameters of hyperon-nucleon potentials, which are critical for the understanding of hypernuclear matter and neutron stars. Here we present preliminary experimental results for the polarization observables S, Py, Ox, Oz, Cx, and Cz for final-state interactions (FSI) in exclusive L photoproduction off the deuteron. The observables were obtained from data collected during the E06-103 (g13) experiment with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. The g13 experiment ran with unpolarized deuteron target and circularly- and linearly-polarized photon beams with energies between 0.5 GeV and 2.5 GeV and collected about 51010 events with multiple charged particles in the final state. To select the reaction of interest, the K+ and the L decay products, a proton and a negative pion, were detected in the CLAS. The missing-mass technique was used to identify exclusive hyperon photoproduction events. Final-state interaction events were selected by requesting that the reconstructed neutron has a momentum larger than 200 MeV/c. The large statistics of E06-103 provided statistically meaningful FSI event samples, which allow for the extraction of one- and two-fold differential single- and double-polarization observables. Here we present preliminary results for a set of six observables for photon energies between 0.9 GeV and 2.3 GeV and for several kinematic variables in the Ln center-of-mass frame. Our results are the very first estimates of polarization observables for FSI in hyperon photoproduction and will be used to constrain the free parameters of hyperon-nucleon potentials.

Ilieva, Yordanka↗

DOE OSTI2019

Long-Term Stewardship Optimization for a Decommissioned Nuclear Reactor - 19579

The decommissioned Hallam Nuclear Power Facility (Hallam), located in Lancaster County, Nebraska, approximately 19 miles south of Lincoln, was developed as a prototype to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of a sodium-cooled, graphite-moderated nuclear reactor. As part of its Power Demonstration Program, the US Atomic Energy Commission (US AEC), a predecessor agency of the US Department of Energy (US DOE), operated the Hallam reactor from 1962 to 1964. The radiological surveillance of the Hallam site was established when the operating agreement between AEC and the Nebraska Public Power District was terminated. The US DOE Chicago Operations Office and the Nebraska Department of Health (NDH) agreed to install a shallow groundwater monitoring system as part of the environmental surveillance program. Surveillance at the site was scheduled to end in fiscal year 2005, with no further activities planned after that. At that time, the plan was to transition the site to the Nebraska Public Power District with future use of the facility to remain restricted. US DOE has title to and responsibility for the entombed radioactive materials. A surveillance and monitoring program was initiated in 1970 by NDH and was funded by US AEC. It included the analysis of samples from deep production wells (groundwater from the regional aquifer at depths greater than 55 meters [180 feet]) at the Sheldon Station. NDH was concerned in 1990 about the possibility of shallow groundwater coming in contact with the buried radiological materials along the buried walls of the reactor. Subsequently, DOE and NDH agreed to further characterize hydrologic conditions and establish a monitoring program in the shallow, perched groundwater zones. The current monitoring program focuses on the shallow, perched groundwater. Today, decades since facility decommissioning, site inspections and groundwater monitoring continue at this Cold War-era legacy site. The US DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) monitors groundwater as a best management practice in response to a request from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In 2006, LM recommended discontinuing groundwater monitoring because analytical results since 1970 demonstrated there had been no impact to shallow, perched groundwater and no current or anticipated unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. The State of Nebraska did not concur with the recommendation to stop monitoring but did agree to a reduction in sampling and analysis from once a year to once every 2 years--a schedule that began in 2008. An updated assessment of the groundwater monitoring effort was issued in 2016. The entire body of water-quality data continues to demonstrate that there have been no negative impacts to the shallow, perched groundwater from radioactive materials entombed at the site 46 years ago. LM, with concurrence from Nebraska DHHS, changed the sampling frequency, effective in 2018, as follows: once every 5 years from 2021 to 2041 and once every 10 years from 2041 to 2071. In summary, LM remains committed to its primary mission to protect human health and the environment at each of its 92 legacy sites. With results from groundwater sampling events demonstrating compliance for 48 years, the Hallam site was able to set an LM benchmark to optimize long-term stewardship and define an end-state strategy for other decommissioned reactor facilities across the DOE complex. Continued collaboration with local communities, stakeholder, and regulators often leads to outcomes of sound protectiveness without compromise to safety or compliance, as demonstrated by the optimization of the long-term stewardship at the Hallam site. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

NASA NTRS2005

Analysis of Atmospheric Aerosol Data Sets and Application of Radiative Transfer Models to Compute Aerosol Effects

The Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAER) scientists have worked with the NASA Ames Research Center sunphotometer group led by Dr. Philip Russell for many years researching the climatic effects of aerosol particles in the stratosphere and troposphere. We have continued to work with the NASA Ames sunphotometer group in research activities representing funded, peer-reviewed proposals to NASA, NOAA and DOE. The activities are described in those proposals and also in the documents provided to the Grants Office earlier. This is the final report from January 1,2002 - June 30, 2005. The report consists of a compilation of 41 peer-reviewed publications (published, in press or submitted) produced under this Cooperative Agreement and 43 first-authored conference presentations. To save paper, reprints are not included but will, of course, be provided upon request.

Schmid, Beat↗

NASA NTRS2012

Surface, Water, and Air Biocharacterization (SWAB) Flight Experiment

The determination of risk from infectious disease during spaceflight missions is composed of several factors including both the concentration and characteristics of the microorganisms to which the crew are exposed. Thus, having a good understanding of the microbial ecology aboard spacecraft provides the necessary information to mitigate health risks to the crew. While preventive measures are taken to minimize the presence of pathogens on spacecraft, medically significant organisms have been isolated from both the Mir and International Space Station (ISS). Historically, the method for isolation and identification of microorganisms from spacecraft environmental samples depended upon their growth on culture media. Unfortunately, only a fraction of the organisms may grow on a specific culture medium, potentially omitting those microorganisms whose nutritional and physical requirements for growth are not met. To address this bias in our understanding of the ISS environment, the Surface, Water, and Air Biocharacterization (SWAB) Flight Experiment was designed to investigate and develop monitoring technology to provide better microbial characterization. For the SWAB flight experiment, we hypothesized that environmental analysis using non-culture-based technologies would reveal microorganisms, allergens, and microbial toxins not previously reported in spacecraft, allowing for a more complete health assessment. Key findings during this experiment included: a) Generally, advanced molecular techniques were able to reveal a few organisms not recovered using culture-based methods; however, there is no indication that current monitoring is "missing" any medically significant bacteria or fungi. b) Molecular techniques have tremendous potential for microbial monitoring, however, sample preparation and data analysis present challenges for spaceflight hardware. c) Analytical results indicate that some molecular techniques, such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), can be much less sensitive than culture-based methods. d) More sensitive molecular techniques, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR), were able to identify viral DNA from ISS environments, suggesting potential transfer of the organism between crewmembers. In addition, the hardware selected for this experiment represented advances for next-generation sample collection. The advanced nature of this collection hardware was noted, when the Sartorius MD8 Air Port air sampler from the SWAB experiment remained on board ISS at the request of JAXA investigators, who intend to use it in completion of their microbial ecology experiment.

Castro, V. A.↗

DOE OSTI2013

Independent Confirmatory Survey Summary and Results for the Ford Nuclear Reactor, Ann Arbor, Michigan

At the NRC's request, ORAU conducted confirmatory surveys of the FNR during the period of December 4 through 6, 2012. The survey activities included visual inspections and measurement and sampling activities. Confirmatory activities also included the review and assessment of UM's project documentation and methodologies. Surface scans identified elevated activity in two areas. The first area was on a wall outside of Room 3103 and the second area was in the southwest section on the first floor. The first area was remediated to background levels. However, the second area was due to gamma shine from a neighboring source storage area. A retrospective analysis of UM's FSS data shows that for the SUs investigated by the ORAU survey team, UM met the survey requirements set forth in the FSSP. The total mean surface activity values were directly compared with the mean total surface activity reported by UM. Mean surface activity values determined by UM were within two standard deviations of the mean determined by ORAU. Additionally, all surface activity values were less than the corresponding gross beta DCGLW. Laboratory analysis of the soil showed that COC concentrations were less than the respective DCGLW values. For the inter-lab comparison, the DER was above 3 for only one sample. However, since the sum of fractions for each of the soil samples was below 1, thus none of the samples would fail to meet release guidelines. Based on the findings of the side-by-side direct measurements, and after discussion with the NRC and ORAU, UM decided to use a more appropriate source efficiency in their direct measurement calculations and changed their source efficiency from 0.37 to 0.25.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2013

Independent Confirmatory Survey Summary and Results for the Ford Nuclear Reactor, Revision 1, Ann Arbor, Michigan

At the NRC's request, ORAU conducted confirmatory surveys of the FNR during the period of December 4 through 6, 2012. The survey activities included visual inspections and measurement and sampling activities. Confirmatory activities also included the review and assessment of UM's project documentation and methodologies. Surface scans identified elevated activity in two areas. The first area was on a wall outside of Room 3103 and the second area was in the southwest section on the first floor. The first area was remediated to background levels. However, the second area was due to gamma shine from a neighboring source storage area. A retrospective analysis of UM's FSS data shows that for the SUs investigated by the ORAU survey team, UM met the survey requirements set forth in the FSSP. The total mean surface activity values were directly compared with the mean total surface activity reported by UM. Mean surface activity values determined by UM were within two standard deviations of the mean determined by ORAU. Additionally, all surface activity values were less than the corresponding gross beta DCGL W . Laboratory analysis of the soil showed that COC concentrations were less than the respective DCGL W values. For the inter-lab comparison, the DER was above 3 for only one sample. However, since the sum of fractions for each of the soil samples was below 1, thus none of the samples would fail to meet release guidelines. Based on the findings of the side-by-side direct measurements, and after discussion with the NRC and ORAU, UM decided to use a more appropriate source efficiency in their direct measurement calculations and changed their source efficiency from 0.37 to 0.25.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Better Buildings Workforce Accelerator – Technical Assistance Project: Northwest Energy Efficiency Council – A Replicable Analysis for Building Operator Certification Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Objectives

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) requested technical assistance through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Workforce Accelerator (BBWA) program, with the objective of developing a replicable analytical approach to understanding Building Operator Certification (BOC) program participants and measure progress towards diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives. The technical assistance advances NEEC’s progress towards their goal of recruiting more diverse students to the BOC training and certification program. This report develops a replicable geospatial analysis of BOC program participants based on DEI indicators that can be applied at a national level, provides a step-by-step guide on repeating and updating the analysis, and presents recommendations for future data collection and analysis.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗