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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Tunable stochastic memristors for energy-efficient encryption and computing

Information security and computing, two critical technological challenges for post-digital computation, pose opposing requirements – security (encryption) requires a source of unpredictability, while computing generally requires predictability. Each of these contrasting requirements presently necessitates distinct conventional Si-based hardware units with power-hungry overheads. This work demonstrates Cu 0.3 Te 0.7 /HfO 2 (‘CuTeHO’) ion-migration-driven memristors that satisfy the contrasting requirements. Under specific operating biases, CuTeHO memristors generate truly random and physically unclonable functions, while under other biases, they perform universal Boolean logic. Using these computing primitives, this work experimentally demonstrates a single system that performs cryptographic key generation, universal Boolean logic operations, and encryption/decryption. Circuit-based calculations reveal the energy and latency advantages of the CuTeHO memristors in these operations. This work illustrates the functional flexibility of memristors in implementing operations with varying component-level requirements.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

AI-based Cyber Event OSINT via Twitter Data

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) is largely regarded as a necessary component for cybersecurity intelligence gathering to secure network systems. With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing usage of social media, like Twitter, we have a unique opportunity to obtain and aggregate information from social media. In this study, we propose an AI-based scheme capable of automatically pulling information from Twitter, filtering out security-irrelevant tweets, performing natural language analysis to correlate the tweets about each cybersecurity event (e.g., a malware campaign), and validating the information. This scheme has many applications, such as providing a means for security operators to gain insight into ongoing events and helping them prioritize vulnerabilities to deal with. To give examples of the possible uses, we present three case studies demonstrating the event discovery and investigation processes.

Dale, Dakota↗
DOE OSTI2013

Fukushima Daiichi Information Repository FY13 Status

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan is one of the most serious in commercial nuclear power plant operating history. Much will be learned that may be applicable to the U.S. reactor fleet, nuclear fuel cycle facilities, and supporting systems, and the international reactor fleet. For example, lessons from Fukushima Daiichi may be applied to emergency response planning, reactor operator training, accident scenario modeling, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and accident mitigation; as well as influence U.S. policies towards the nuclear fuel cycle including power generation, and spent fuel storage, reprocessing, and disposal. This document describes the database used to establish a centralized information repository to store and manage the Fukushima data that has been gathered. The data is stored in a secured (password protected and encrypted) repository that is searchable and available to researchers at diverse locations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Manual Torque Data Study

At the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX, Production Technicians (PTs) build and disassemble nuclear weapon systems. The weapons are held in an integrated work stand for stability and to increase the safety environment for the workers and for the materials being processed. There are many occasions in which a knob must be turned to tighten an assembly part. This can help to secure or manipulate pieces of the system. As there are so many knobs to turn, the instructions given to the PTs are to twist the knob to a hand-tight setting, without the aid of a torque wrench. There are inherent risks in this procedure as the knobs can be tightened too loosely such that the apparatus falls apart or too tightly such that the force can crush or pinch components in the system that contain energetic materials. We want to study these operations at Pantex. Our goal is to collect torque data to assess the safety and reliability of humantooling interfaces.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

US Department of Energy, Office of Science High Performance Computing Facility Operational Assessment 2019 Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) continues to surpass its operational target goals: supporting users; delivering fast, reliable computational ecosystems; creating innovative solutions for high performance computing (HPC) needs; and managing risks, safety, and security associated with operating some of the most powerful computers in the world. The results can be seen in the cutting-edge science conducted by users and the praise from the research community. Calendar year (CY) 2019 was a big year as OLCF staff ran five world-class resources (the leadershipclass computers Titan and Summit, the large analysis cluster called Eos, and the massive parallel filesystems called Atlas and Alpine)) and also began power and cooling upgrades for a 2021 exascale system called Frontier. While continuing exceptional operation of Titan, Eos, and Rhea, the OLCF released the Summit supercomputer for production on January 1, 2019. Summit debuted as the most capable and efficient system in its class and has been recognized as the most powerful system in the world for its performance on both the high performance linpack (HPL) and conjugate gradient (HPCG) benchmark applications since June 2018 according to TOP500. Summit represents the culmination of a multiyear effort between the OLCF, IBM, NVIDIA, and Mellanox to deliver a system that is unmatched for modeling, simulation, data analysis, and learning. To hit the ground running with science-ready applications on day one, application teams worked closely with the OLCF through the Center for Accelerated Application Readiness (CAAR) program for years in advance of the Summit deployment. CY 2019 was filled with outstanding results and accomplishments: a very high rating from users on overall satisfaction for the sixth year in a row; a tremendous amount of core-hours delivered to researchers from two leadership-class systems; and success in delivering on the allocation split of roughly 60%, 30%, and 10% of core-hours offered for the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE), Advanced Scientific Computing Research Leadership Computing Challenge (ALCC), and Director's Discretionary (DD) programs, respectively (see Operational Performance section). These accomplishments, coupled with the high utilization rates (overall and capability usage), represent the fulfillment of the promise of both leadership-class machines: efficient facilitation of leadership-class computational applications. Table ES.1 presents a summary of the 2019 OLCF metric targets and the associated results. More information can be found in the Operational Performance section for each OLCF resource. The scientific accomplishments of OLCF users are a strong indication of long-term operational success, with publications this year in such notable journals and publications as Nature, Nature Physics, Nature Plants, Physical Review X, Journal of the American Physical Society, Cell, Nano Letters, and Trends in Biotechnology. Crucial domain-specific discoveries facilitated by resources at the OLCF are described in the High Performance Computing Facility Operational Assessment 2019 Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OAR) Strategic Results section. For example, researchers used Summit to pinpoint and understand the production of proteins from genetic information, including mutations and the functional expression of disease (Section 8.2).

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-Dimensional Data-Driven Energy Optimization for MultiModal Transit Agencies

Transportation accounts for 28% of the total energy use in the United States and as such, it is responsible for immense environmental impact, including urban air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and may pose a severe threat to energy security. As we encourage mode shift from personal vehicles to public transit, it is important to consider that public transit systems still require substantial amounts of energy; for example, public bus transit services in the U.S. are responsible for at least 19.7 million metric tons of CO 2 emission annually. As such it is absolutely crucial that we study the bottlenecks to energy efficiency in public transit and develop new algorithms that can help the public transit agencies, especially those that are still operating mixed fleets, which may consist of Electric vehicles (EVs), hybrids (HEVs), and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), optimize the operations by deciding which vehicles are assigned to serving which transit trips.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) Integration into Model- Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)

Engineering design in the field of industrial engineering, such as designing automated factories or warehouses, is critical for the effective operation of facilities. Any design flaws introduced early can result in significant capital expenses to correct. However, early-stage engineering design is inherently complex. The systems are not yet built, requiring designers to integrate various aspects, including digital engineering and cybersecurity, to support virtual representations throughout the design process. In this study, we propose an approach to integrate Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) principles into model-based systems engineering (MBSE). This approach facilitates the development of a digital thread for engineering systems, ensuring secure digital artifacts in the design of industrial engineering systems.

42 - ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1978

Mounting structure

A mounting platform for heat producing instruments operated in a narrow equilibrium temperature range comprises a grid-like structure with relatively large openings therein. The instruments are secured to and thermally coupled with the grid surface facing the instruments. Excess heat from the instruments is selectively radiated to the ambient through openings in the grid, the grid surfaces at these openings exhibiting low thermal emissivity and adsorptivity. The remainder of the grid is maintained at the equilibrium temperature and is covered with a thermal insulating blanket. Thus, the entire system including the platform and instruments is maintained substantially isothermal, whereby the instruments remain in fixed physical relationship to one another.

Ganssle, Eugene Robert↗
DOE OSTI2021

Molten Salt Reactor Signatures and Modeling Study

Molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies, either liquid fueled and cooled or only liquid cooled, pose specific, unique challenges for safeguards of the special nuclear material during the operation, fueling, and maintenance of the reactor. MSRs are one type of Generation IV technologies being invested in and considered for U.S. domestic fabrication primarily for electricity and process heat production. These designs have generated growing commercial interest for several reasons, including high (≈40%) thermal efficiency, ease of fueling, improved use of uranium fuel, potential utilization of thorium fuel, and proposed inherent safety features. U.S. companies have several planned designs that differ in fuel, cooling, and neutron energy spectrum. Driven by commercial interest and the intent of licensing MSRs, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has developed a vision and strategy to accommodate non-light water reactors (LWR), which include MSRs (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2019). In addition, the Department of Energy (DOE) through the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Office of Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART), …sponsors research, development and deployment (RD&D) activities through its Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC), and Advanced Small Modular Reactor (aSMR) programs to promote safety, technical, economical, and environmental advancements of innovative Generation IV nuclear energy technologies. Reactor types considering the use of salts, liquid metals, or gases for coolant fall under both ARC and aSMR. Therefore, Research Design & Development is being pursued by DOE-NE through national laboratories, universities, and international and industrial collaborations. Additionally, the U.S. is a member of the Gen IV International Forum (GIF). The GIF is a cooperative, multinational organization to guide and carry out research and development needed for the GEN IV reactor systems (Forum 2018). GIF evaluated numerous reactor concepts and down-selected to the six most feasible advanced reactor technologies: gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), MSR, supercritical watercooled reactor (SCWR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), and very high temperature reactor (VHTR). In support of the growing interest domestically and internationally, the Materials Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) campaign, under the DOE-NE Fuel Cycle Technologies (FCT) program, engages in R&D activities by developing advanced instrumentation and analysis for safeguards and security of modern, advanced nuclear fuel cycle (non-LWR) facilities. Because of the historic experience in the operation of the Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) and the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) (Robertson, MSRE Design and Operations Report Part I 1965), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is heavily engaged in the various R&D activities through the DOE complex related to MSRs including national technical leadership of the DOE-NE MSR campaign. This report discusses and presents the outcomes of the FY19 MPACT MSR Safeguards task. The challenges presented by MSRs for nuclear material accountancy and control (NMAC) and associated safeguards will be investigated. The objective of this research is to explore and compile the safeguards requirements and identify measurement signatures through an initial high-level MSR design and develop complementary advanced simulation and modeling capabilities. A high-level ORNL-developed MSR design called the Molten Salt Demonstration Reactor (MSDR) (Bettis, Alexander and Watts 1972) was used as the target reactor design for this research. The MSDR model incorporates technology from the MSRE and the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (Robertson, Conceptual Design of a Single-Fluid Molten-Salt Breeder Reactor 1971). But the MSDR is a 750 MWth graphite moderated liquid fueled (low-enriched uranium) MSR compared to the MSRE’s of 7.5 MWth. The focus of this report is to discuss the evaluation of novel signatures, correlations, and indicators to understand the applicability of current safeguards instrumentation to MSRs using the modeling results from the MSDR.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Intrinsic use control for system and use controlled component security

An Initialization Unit (IU) initiates an initial secure connection with an Intrinsic Use Control (IUC) Chip based on very large random numbers (VLRNs). The IUC Chip in turn initiates a secondary secure connection between it and one or more Use Controlled Components (UCCs). Polling by the IU allows confirmation of an ongoing secure connection, and also allows the IUC Chip to confirm the secondary secure connection to the UCCs. Removal or improper polling response from one of the UCCs results in a response from the IUC Chip that may include notification of tampering, or temporary or permanent discontinued operation of the offending UCC. Permanent discontinued operation may include destruction of the offending UCC, and cascaded discontinued operation of all other UCCs secured by the IUC Chip. A UCC may in turn be another nested layer of IUC Chips, controlling a corresponding layer of UCCs, ad infinitum.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Intrinsic use control for system and use controlled component security

An Initialization Unit (IU) initiates an initial secure connection with an Intrinsic Use Control (IUC) Chip based on very large random numbers (VLRNs). The IUC Chip in turn initiates a secondary secure connection between it and one or more Use Controlled Components (UCCs). Polling by the IU allows confirmation of an ongoing secure connection, and also allows the IUC Chip to confirm the secondary secure connection to the UCCs. Removal or improper polling response from one of the UCCs results in a response from the IUC Chip that may include notification of tampering, or temporary or permanent discontinued operation of the offending UCC. Permanent discontinued operation may include destruction of the offending UCC, and cascaded discontinued operation of all other UCCs secured by the IUC Chip. A UCC may in turn be another nested layer of IUC Chips, controlling a corresponding layer of UCCs, ad infinitum.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Intrinsic use control for system and use controlled component security

An Initialization Unit (IU) initiates an initial secure connection with an Intrinsic Use Control (IUC) Chip based on very large random numbers (VLRNs). The IUC Chip in turn initiates a secondary secure connection between it and one or more Use Controlled Components (UCCs). Polling by the IU allows confirmation of an ongoing secure connection, and also allows the IUC Chip to confirm the secondary secure connection to the UCCs. Removal or improper polling response from one of the UCCs results in a response from the IUC Chip that may include notification of tampering, or temporary or permanent discontinued operation of the offending UCC. Permanent discontinued operation may include destruction of the offending UCC, and cascaded discontinued operation of all other UCCs secured by the IUC Chip. A UCC may in turn be another nested layer of IUC Chips, controlling a corresponding layer of UCCs, ad infinitum.

Hart, Mark Miles↗
DOE OSTI2024

Does practice make perfect? Lessons learned from full-scale power system incident response exercise

While threats to the energy sector occur daily, few utilities get the opportunity to fully test out their detection and response mechanisms to advanced threats in the real world. With the high demand for reliability, few grid operators would allow execution of simulated cyber-attacks on their live systems. The DOE-funded Liberty Eclipse project offers a unique opportunity for small and large utilities and coops to practice their combined IT/OT responses to a live red team executing attacks against an isolated power system on an island in New York. Both cyber teams and power operations teams must work together to detect and respond to attacks, even restoring the power system against extreme impacts. Lessons learned from these exercises reveal key takeaways for understanding what a real attack against the electric sector will look like, gaps in execution of the best-laid plans when the pressure of a real event is bearing down, and how organizations can better prepare for advanced attacks by optimizing participation in exercises. This presentation will discuss successes and opportunities for improvement both in how utilities can prepare for and respond to events, as well as how full-scale IT/OT exercises can be coordinated.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2002

A Grid Infrastructure for Supporting Space-based Science Operations

Emerging technologies for computational grid infrastructures have the potential for revolutionizing the way computers are used in all aspects of our lives. Computational grids are currently being implemented to provide a large-scale, dynamic, and secure research and engineering environments based on standards and next-generation reusable software, enabling greater science and engineering productivity through shared resources and distributed computing for less cost than traditional architectures. Combined with the emerging technologies of high-performance networks, grids provide researchers, scientists and engineers the first real opportunity for an effective distributed collaborative environment with access to resources such as computational and storage systems, instruments, and software tools and services for the most computationally challenging applications.

Bradford, Robert N.↗
DOE OSTI2014

GridOPTICS Software System

GridOPTICS Software System (GOSS) is a middleware that facilitates creation of new, modular and flexible operational and planning platforms that can meet the challenges of the next generation power grid. GOSS enables Department of Energy, power system utilities, and vendors to build better tools faster. GOSS makes it possible to integrate Future Power Grid Initiative software products/prototypes into existing power grid software systems, including the PNNL PowerNet and EIOC environments. GOSS is designed to allow power grid applications developed for different underlying software platforms installed in different utilities to communicate with ease. This can be done in compliance with existing security and data sharing policies between the utilities. GOSS not only supports one-to-one data transfer between applications, but also publisher/subscriber scheme. To support interoperability requirements of future EMS, GOSS is designed for CIM compliance. In addition to this, it supports authentication and authorization capabilities to protect the system from cyber threats. In summary, the contributions of the GOSS middleware are as follows: A platform to support future EMS development. A middleware that promotes interoperability between power grid applications. A distributed architecture that separates data sources from power grid applications. Support for data exchange with either one-to-one or publisher/subscriber interfaces. An authentication and authorization scheme for limiting the access to data between utilities.

Akyol, BoraA↗
NASA NTRS2012

An Evaluation of Protocols for UAV Science Applications

This paper identifies data transport needs for current and future science payloads deployed on the NASA Global Hawk Unmanned Aeronautical Vehicle (UAV). The NASA Global Hawk communication system and operational constrains are presented. The Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) mission is used to provide the baseline communication requirements as a variety of payloads were utilized in this mission. User needs and desires are addressed. Protocols are matched to the payload needs and an evaluation of various techniques and tradeoffs are presented. Such techniques include utilization rate-base selective negative acknowledgement protocols and possible use of protocol enhancing proxies. Tradeoffs of communication architectures that address ease-of-use and security considerations are also presented.

Ivancic, William D.↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Use of the CCSDS Unified Space Data Link Protocol on All Space Links

NASA is actively pursuing the development of data link layer protocols for the human space program with the added intent of infusing the key capabilities of efficient space link security, support for inter-networking, and compatible operational modes with Optical Communications. There seems to be two divergent technical approaches on how to provide these capabilities: one associated with the use of a fixed length Protocol Data Unit (PDU) i.e., a fixed length transfer frame, and the other advocating the use of a variable length transfer frame. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the pros and cons of these two approaches within the context of existing Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Space Data Link Protocols and Channel Coding Recommendations for all space links: space to ground (return) link, ground to space (forward) link and space to space (proximity) links.

Kazz, Greg J↗
DOE OSTI2012

An Assessment of Integrated Health Management Frameworks

In order to meet the ever increasing demand for energy, the United States nuclear industry is turning to life extension of existing nuclear power plants (NPPs). Economically ensuring the safe, secure, and reliable operation of aging NPPs presents many challenges. The 2009 Light Water Reactor Sustainability Workshop identified online monitoring of active and structural components as essential to better understanding and management of the challenges posed by aging NPPs. Additionally, there is increasing adoption of condition-based maintenance (CBM) for active components in NPPs. These techniques provide a foundation upon which a variety of advanced online surveillance, diagnostic, and prognostic techniques can be deployed to continuously monitor and assess the health of NPP systems and components. The next step in the development of advanced online monitoring is to move beyond CBM to estimating the remaining useful life of active components using prognostic tools. Deployment of prognostic health management (PHM) on the scale of an NPP requires the use of an integrated health management (IHM) framework - a software product (or suite of products) used to manage the necessary elements needed for a complete implementation of online monitoring and prognostics. This paper provides a thoughtful look at the desirable functions and features of IHM architectures. A full PHM system involves several modules, including data acquisition, system modeling, fault detection, fault diagnostics, system prognostics, and advisory generation (operations and maintenance planning). The standards applicable to PHM applications are indentified and summarized. A list of evaluation criteria for PHM software products, developed to ensure scalability of the toolset to an environment with the complexity of an NPP, is presented. Fourteen commercially available PHM software products are identified and classified into four groups: research tools, PHM system development tools, deployable architectures, and peripheral tools.

Lybeck, Nancy↗