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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Preliminary Analysis of Advanced Reactors Storage, Transportation, and Disposal

Based on the higher interest in Advanced Reactor (AR) deployment (e.g., ARDP[1]) for potential new fuel cycles, the Spent Fuel & Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) Program has begun to evaluate the possible implications of long-term management and final disposition of potential Advance Reactor spent nuclear fuels (SNF) that would be generated in potential advanced reactors. Safely managing and dispositioning the potential future AR SNF, and any other associated radioactive wastes, is the primary focus of this initial preliminary assessment of those. This paper summarizes the efforts by the Spent Fuel & Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) in evaluating characteristics and packaging options for advanced reactor spent nuclear fuel forms. The fuel forms were categorized into three types: (1) tristructural isotropic (TRISO), (2) metallic, and (3) fuel salt. This work emphasized TRISO and metallic SNF and waste streams because of the near-term anticipated operation of the Xe-100 and the Natrium reactors as advanced-reactor demonstrations. Preliminary information for the spent-fuel salts discharged from molten-salt reactors (MSRs) is also examined to provide a baseline for future efforts. All calculations and assumptions used publicly available information. The following characteristics are calculated or estimated for use in the preliminary assessments: SNF volume and mass, radiation/activity levels through time, thermal conditions through time, potential radionuclide source terms, chemical interactions and evolutions, disposal inventories, and waste-form lifetime. Using those characteristics, calculations to determine the applicability of existing canister designs were performed. These evaluations included geometric (e.g., dimension, volume) and mass/weight considerations, known operational approaches and loading procedures, physical and chemical considerations/conditions for storage environments, as-loaded radiation, thermal, and criticality analyses to identify constraints for storage, transportation, and disposal. The paper also includes a literature review and analysis on the storage, transportation, and disposal evaluations and experiences from reactors with similar fuel forms. Advanced-reactor vendors cite past experiences with Fort St. Vrain for TRISO and the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) for metallics that have major influences on fuel design. Finally, the paper includes preliminary concepts of operation for advanced-reactor SNF. This encompasses storage, transportation, potential treatment, and disposal activities from both a per-canister and systems-integration perspective.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Preliminary Analysis of Advanced Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, Transportation, and Disposal

Due to increased interest in advanced reactor deployment and their associated potential new fuel cycles, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) program has begun to evaluate the possible implications of long term management and final disposition of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) generated. Safely managing and dispositioning this SNF, along with any other associated radioactive waste, is the primary focus of this initial preliminary assessment. This paper summarizes efforts to evaluate the characteristics and packaging options for three types of advanced reactor SNF forms: (1) tristructural isotropic (TRISO), (2) metallic, and (3) irradiated fuel salt presented in the report titled “Storage, Transportation, and Disposal of Advanced Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste”. TRISO and metallic SNF and their associated waste streams were emphasized because of the near-term anticipated demonstrations of X-energy’s Xe-100 and TerraPower and GE Hitachi’s Natrium advanced reactors. Preliminary information on spent fuel salts discharged from molten-salt reactors (MSRs) was also examined to provide a baseline for future efforts. All calculations and assumptions were based on publicly available information. This paper identifies several different reactors that produce either TRISO or metallic SNF as well as a few of the reactor and fuel characteristics used for the assessments. Based on these characteristics, calculations were performed to determine the applicability of packaging SNF into existing canister designs. The evaluations included geometric (e.g., dimension, volume) and mass/weight considerations, known operational approaches and loading procedures, physical and chemical considerations/conditions for storage environments, and as-loaded radiation, thermal, and criticality analyses to identify constraints on storage, transportation, and disposal. Gaps in publicly available data pertaining to reactor operation and/or fuel composition provide increased uncertainty in some evaluations. Additionally, uncertainty in packaging and SNF management operations provide additional uncertainty. However, preliminary conclusions can still be assessed through this work and are presented in this paper.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Paving the way for Stakeholder use of Carbon Storage & Transport Digital Resources

This online resource is intended to provide a comprehensive “one-stop-shop” for understanding the availability of tools, data, and models developed under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) as they relate to supporting stakeholders’ Carbon Storage and Transport needs. To support accessibility of these BIL products, supplemental information regarding project life-cycle relevance, update history, release dates, input and output formats, and example use-cases will be integrated into consistent and accessible Story Map formats. This presentation is to update on the progress of this effort and detail anticipated next steps associated with ongoing development.

Martin, Abigail↗
DOE OSTI2022

Carbon Capture, Transport, & Storage: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment (Final Report)

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report was completed by the Department of Energy (DOE) to examine carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture, transport, and storage technologies and associated supply chains that will be required to support the United States (U.S.) decarbonization goals by 2050. Specifically, the analysis sought to understand supply chain bottlenecks to achievingan upper-bound 2.0 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) per year in the United States. A literature review shows that in aggressive infrastructure deployment scenarios, the United States’ likely upper bound of CCS capacity is 1.7 Gigatons per annum (Gtpa) by 2050. This suggests the study design of 2.0 Gtpa capacity by 2050 is more aggressive yet and represents a conservative upper bound for supply chain analyses.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Smart CO2 Transport-Route Planning Tool: Providing Data and Insights for Accelerating Carbon Transport & Storage Deployment

Overview presentation given at the 2024 FECM / NETL Carbon Management Research Project Review Meeting on NETL's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded Smart CO2 Transport-Route Planning Tool and associated geodatabase. This machine learning informed, data-driven public resource was designed to inform regulators, industry, and researchers plan and develop safe and efficient transport routes across the country.

Romeo, Lucy↗
NASA NTRS2004

Reusable module for the storage, transportation, and supply of multiple propellants in a space environment

A space module has an outer structure designed for traveling in space, a docking mechanism for facilitating a docking operation therewith in space, a first storage system storing a first propellant that burns as a result of a chemical reaction therein, a second storage system storing a second propellant that burns as a result of electrical energy being added thereto, and a bi-directional transfer interface coupled to each of the first and second storage systems to transfer the first and second propellants into and out thereof. The space module can be part of a propellant supply architecture that includes at least two of the space modules placed in an orbit in space.

Mazanek, Daniel D.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Decay heat analysis for advanced reactor spent fuel transportation and storage applications

Accurate characterization of nuclide inventories and decay heat in spent nuclear fuel is critical for ensuring its safe handling, storage, transportation, and disposal. Although extensive research has been conducted on light-water reactor fuel, advanced reactors present unique challenges due to their diverse core configurations, fuel characteristics, neutron energy spectra, and burnup levels. Building upon previous efforts that developed representative reactor core models for various advanced reactor types and fuels, this study evaluates reactor-specific decay heat characteristics. The results highlight significant variations across advanced reactor types as well as across reactor designs within the same reactor type, and they provide comparison to typical commercial light-water reactor fuel. For example, thermal-spectrum reactor fuels were observed to have an approximately 100-fold decrease in decay heat over the first decade of cooling, whereas the reduction was 10-fold for fast-spectrum reactor fuels. Mass-specific decay heat at discharge can differ by three orders of magnitude among the fast and thermal reactor systems considered. Overall, for the analyzed advanced reactor fuel, fewer than 17 nuclides account for over 99% of total decay heat at 0.5 years, and that number drops to fewer than 7 nuclides at 100 years of cooling. By quantifying reactor-specific decay heat trends and nuclide contributions, this work provides a technical basis to support the development of spent fuel management strategies for advanced reactor fuels as well as safety evaluations for storage, transportation, and long-term waste disposal.

Advanced reactors↗
NASA NTRS2008

Hydrogen Research for Spaceport and Space-Based Applications: Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Transport

The activities presented are a broad based approach to advancing key hydrogen related technologies in areas such as fuel cells, hydrogen production, and distributed sensors for hydrogen-leak detection, laser instrumentation for hydrogen-leak detection, and cryogenic transport and storage. Presented are the results from research projects, education and outreach activities, system and trade studies. The work will aid in advancing the state-of-the-art for several critical technologies related to the implementation of a hydrogen infrastructure. Activities conducted are relevant to a number of propulsion and power systems for terrestrial, aeronautics and aerospace applications. Hydrogen storage and in-space hydrogen transport research focused on developing and verifying design concepts for efficient, safe, lightweight liquid hydrogen cryogenic storage systems. Research into hydrogen production had a specific goal of further advancing proton conducting membrane technology in the laboratory at a larger scale. System and process trade studies evaluated the proton conducting membrane technology, specifically, scale-up issues.

Anderson, Tim↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quality Guidelines for Energy System Studies: Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Costs in NETL Studies

Transport, storage, and combined T&S costs are reported in this guideline as first-year break even (FYBE) costs in real 2023 dollars per metric ton (tonne) (2023$/tonne). These FYBE costs are from the perspective of a CO 2 pipeline project owner and/or a CO 2 saline storage project owner, and represent a minimum price the owner(s) can charge a CO 2 capture project owner over 30 operating years to transport and/or store a tonne of CO 2 and remain economically viable.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Analysis of gas storage and transport in Eagle Ford shale using pressure pulse decay measurements with He, Kr and CO 2

Detailed characterization of gas transport and storage in low-permeability and organic-rich shales is associated with an array of challenges due to the complex morphology of the pore space, representing a broad range of pore sizes, combined with the heterogeneous fabric of the shale matrix. These factors, and their interplay during gas transport and sorption, complicate a) the analysis of shale samples at the laboratory scale (~ up to a ft. In length), and b) the prediction of natural gas production and carbon sequestration potential at larger scales. Here, in this work, tandem experiments with inert (helium – He) and adsorbing (krypton - Kr and carbon dioxide - CO 2 ) gases were performed and analyzed to develop an efficient workflow for characterizing and modeling transport and sorption at the laboratory scale. In particular, pressure pulse-decay (PPD) measurements were conducted on an Eagle Ford shale core sample at room temperature using He, Kr, and CO 2 . PPD measurements with He (a non-sorbing gas) were employed to probe the overall porosity, including natural fractures, microcracks, mesopores, and micropores. A triple-porosity model (TPM) was adopted to interpret the gas transport in the shale sample: The pore space is represented by three interacting continua, including macropores (larger fractures), mesopores (including microcracks), and micropores. To facilitate the application of the TPM, a modified analytical approach is introduced to extract effective transport parameters (in terms of the characteristic time for transport at relevant porosity levels) directly from the PPD measurements with He. To validate the modeling approach, model parameters extracted from two He PPD measurements are demonstrated to provide excellent agreement with a 3rd He PPD measurement performed at a higher pressure. The effective transport parameters, extracted from the He experiments, were subsequently converted for application to the Kr and CO 2 PPD experiments, by accounting for relevant transport modes and differences in fluid properties. Excess adsorption isotherms were extracted from the equilibrium pressures of the Kr and CO 2 PPD experiments using the He pore volume as a baseline. These adsorption isotherms were then integrated into the TPM to predict combined gas transport and sorption for Kr and CO 2 , with transport coefficients translated from the He measurements. The predictions for Kr and CO 2 are demonstrated to be in excellent agreement with the experimental observations. This, in turn, demonstrates that the proposed analytical approach provides for an effective characterization of mass transfer rates in shales, that can be applied directly in a TPM representation of mass transfer and sorption.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimal CO2 Transport and Storage Cost Screening: Application Example

Poster on “Optimal CO2 Transport and Storage Cost Screening: Application Example” for the CCUS 2025 conference held in Houston, Texas March 3-5, 2025. A major challenge to commercial scale CCS deployment from the perspective of coal and natural gas-fired power plants is understanding cost-optimal CO2 transport and viable geologic storage options. This study demonstrates unique workflows, using NETL-developed, publicly-available models and tools, to efficiently estimate optimal CO2 transport and storage (T&S) costs for each of the CO2 sources in NETL’s Carbon Capture Retrofit Databases (CCRD) for Electricity Generating Units. The results demonstrate the impact of cost-drivers on optimal T&S, and trends in optimal T&S data, based on real point sources that could be retrofitted with CO2 source technologies.

application example↗
NASA NTRS1982

Fusible pellet transport and storage of heat

A new concept for both transport and storage of heat at high temperatures and heat fluxes is introduced and the first steps in analysis of its feasibility is taken. The concept utilizes the high energy storage capability of materials undergoing change of phase. The phase change material, for example a salt, is encapsulated in corrosion resistant sealed pellets and transported in a carrier fluid to heat source and storage. Calculations for heat transport from a typical solar collector indicate that the pellet mass flow rates are relatively small and that the required pumping power is only a small fraction of the energy transport capability of the system. Salts and eutectic salt mixtures as candidate phase change materials are examined and discussed. Finally, the time periods for melting or solidification of sodium chloride pellets is investigated and reported.

Bahrami, P. A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Carbon Transport and Storage Planning and Viability Support Tools

The EDX disCO2ver Carbon Transport and Storage Planning and Viability Support Tools are made up of the Carbon Storage Planning Inquiry Tool (CS PlanIT, Justman et al. 2024) and the Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach Support Tool (CS TVA). Together, these tools support data access to support understanding data availability to support planning efforts for carbon transport and storage. The Carbon Storage Planning Inquiry Tool (CS PlanIT) is an online web mapping application designed to help users explore, query, and evaluate multiple data layers to support and accelerate carbon storage resource and feasibility assessments and planning efforts. CS PlanIT currently contains a range of datasets associated with geologic, technical, and infrastructure factors. The data sets can be filtered geographically for an area of interest to update statistics and charts within the dashboard. The dashboard is divided into different sections called widgets, relating to different steps in the carbon storage planning process. The resources in this submission include a link to PlanIT, as well as a data catalog and link to user documentation. The original citation for the CS PlanIT tool, which has now been integrated into the toolset here, was: - Devin Justman, Scott Pantaleone, Maneesh Sharma, Lucy Romeo, Paige Morkner, CS PlanIT (Carbon Storage Planning Inquiry Tool) , 6/28/2024, https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/cs-planit-carbon-storage-planning-inquiry-tool, DOI: 10.18141/2377953 The Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach Support (CS TVA) Tool displays spatial data availability for the many components of Geologic Carbon Storage (GCS) technical viability assessment (Creason al 2025). Identifying sites suitable for GCS requires evaluating the intersection of myriad factors, including reservoir conditions, subsurface and surface hazards, infrastructure requirements, and energy community metrics. The technical viability of a site can only be confirmed for instances where all these factors have data available, and where those data support viability. Additional Resources related to the Technical Viability Assessment Tool: - Julia Mulhern, Casey White, Araceli Lara, Neyda Cordero Rodriguez, Zachary Jackson, Jacob Shay, Gabriel Creason, MacKenzie Mark-Moser, Paige Morkner, Kelly Rose, Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach (CS TVA) Database, 3/26/2025, https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/edx4ccs-carbon-storage-technical-viability-approach-database , DOI:10.18141/1984655 - Julia Mulhern, MacKenzie Mark-Moser, Gabriel Creason, Casey White, Araceli Lara, Neyda Cordero Rodriguez, Zach Jackson, Paige Morkner, Kelly Rose, Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach (CS TVA) Matrix, 3/27/2025, https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/carbon-storage-technical-viability-approach-cs-tva-matrix , DOI: 10.18141/2539979 - Gabriel Creason, Zach Jackson, Neyda Cordero Rodriguez, Julia Mulhern, Casey White, Araceli Lara, MacKenzie Mark-Moser, Paige Morkner, Kelly Rose, Carbon Storage Technical Viability Approach (CS TVA) Data Availability Results Database, 3/27/2025, https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/carbon-storage-technical-viability-approach-cs-tva-data-availability-results-database, DOI:10.18141/2538557

Carbon storage↗
DOE OSTI2024

Update on Parallel Process Execution in the Next Generation System Analysis Model (NGSAM)

As of the end of 2022, it is estimated that over 90,000 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) were stored at various commercial nuclear power reactor sites (both operating and shutdown) across the United States [1]. The Office of Storage and Transportation within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is planning for the transportation, storage, and eventual disposal of SNF and high-level radioactive waste (HLW). To aid in this effort and inform decision-makers about the backend of the spent fuel cycle, systems analysis tools capable of analyzing the various options with respect to SNF and HLW management are being used as well as continuously improved to meet the evolving needs of the program. System analysts typically use these tools to vary underlying assumptions (shipping rates, available facilities, start dates, interim storage capacity, etc.) and study the associated system implications such as timing for clearing sites of SNF, various cost elements, transportation infrastructure acquisition needs, etc.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗