Different nuclear materials require different processing conditions. In order to maximize the dissolver vessel lifetime, corrosion testing was conducted for a range of chemistries and temperature used in fuel dissolution. Compositional ranges of elements regularly in the dissolver were evaluated for corrosion of 304L, the material of construction. Corrosion rates of AISI Type 304 stainless steel coupons, both welded and non-welded coupons, were calculated from measured weight losses and post-test concentrations of soluble Fe, Cr and Ni.

Overview of photovoltaics role with passive solar houses.

The primary objectives of this work can be summed into two major categories. Firstly, the fundamentals of the combustion of glycerol (in both a refined and unrefined form) were to be investigated, with emphasis of the development of a system capable of reliably and repeatedly combusting glycerol as well as an analysis of the emissions produced during glycerol combustion. Focus was placed on quantifying common emissions in comparison to more traditional fuels and this work showed that the burner developed was able to completely combust glycerol within a relatively wide range of operating conditions. Additionally, focus was placed on examining specific emissions in more detail, namely interesting NOx emissions observed in initial trials, acrolein and other volatile organic emissions, and particulate and ash emissions. This work showed that the combustion of crude glycerol could result in significantly reduced NOx emissions as a function of the high fuel bound oxygen content within the glycerol fuel. It also showed that when burned properly, the combustion of crude glycerol did not result in excessive emissions of acrolein or any other VOC compared to the combustion from more traditional fuels. Lastly however, this work has shown that in any practical application in which glycerol …

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Second generation (2G) technologies to fabricate high-performance superconducting wires developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) were transferred to American Superconductor via this CRADA. In addition, co-development of technologies for over a decade was done to enable fabrication of commercial high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires with high performance. The massive success of this CRADA has allowed American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) to become a global leader in the fabrication of HTS wire and the technology is fully based on the Rolling Assisted Biaxially Textured Substrates (RABiTS) technology invented and developed at ORNL.

Agricultural residues have significant potential as a near term source of cellulosic biomass for bioenergy production, but sustainable removal of agricultural residues requires consideration of the critical roles that residues play in the agronomic system. Previous work has developed an integrated model to evaluate sustainable agricultural residue removal potential considering soil erosion, soil organic carbon, greenhouse gas emission, and long-term yield impacts of residue removal practices. The integrated model couples the environmental process models WEPS, RUSLE2, SCI, and DAYCENT. This study uses the integrated model to investigate the impact of interval removal practices in Boone County, Iowa, US. Residue removal of 4.5 Mg/ha was performed annually, bi-annually, and tri-annually and were compared to no residue removal. The study is performed at the soil type scale using a national soil survey database assuming a continuous corn rotation with reduced tillage. Results are aggregated across soil types to provide county level estimates of soil organic carbon changes and individual soil type soil organic matter content if interval residue removal were implemented. Results show interval residue removal is possible while improving soil organic matter. Implementation of interval removal practices provide greater increases in soil organic matter while still providing substantial residue for bioenergy …

This presentation library summarizes findings of NREL's Renewable Electricity Futures study, published in June 2012. RE Futures investigated the challenges and impacts of achieving very high renewable electricity generation levels in the contiguous United States by 2050.

This report focuses on the wind resource assessment, the estimated energy production of wind turbines, and economic potential of a wind turbine project on a ridge in the southeastern portion of the Fort Carson Army base.

During the two-year project period, the project team has engaged in the development of WINS and applied it to several congestion and wind integration studies. In summary, researches in this project on wind integration include (1) Development of WINS; (2) Transmission Congestion Analysis in the Eastern Interconnection; (3) Analysis of 2030 Large-Scale Wind Energy Integration in the Eastern Interconnection; (4) Large-scale Analysis of 2018 Wind Energy Integration in the Eastern U.S. Interconnection. The education activities in this project on wind energy include (1) Wind Energy Training Facility Development; (2) Wind Energy Course Development. The research resulted in 33 papers, 9 presentations, 9 PhD degrees, 4 MS degrees, and 7 awards.

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This fact sheet gives an overview of the technical assistance provided by DOE/NREL to the Department of Defense to advance energy security. Specifically, the fact sheet describes the net zero energy project at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar.

This brief report contains a critique of two key components of FiveFocal's cost model for glass compression molding of chalcogenide lenses for infrared applications. Molding preforms and mold technology have the greatest influence on the ultimate cost of the product and help determine the volumes needed to select glass molding over conventional single-point diamond turning or grinding and polishing. This brief report highlights key areas of both technologies with recommendations for further study.

Experimental data generated by the Very High Temperature Reactor Program need to be more available to users in the form of data tables on Web pages that can be downloaded to Excel or in delimited text formats that can be used directly for input to analysis and simulation codes, statistical packages, and graphics software. One solution that can provide current and future researchers with direct access to the data they need, while complying with records management requirements, is the Nuclear Data Management and Analysis System (NDMAS). This report describes the NDMAS system and its components, defines roles and responsibilities, describes the functions the system performs, describes the internal processes the NDMAS team uses to carry out the mission, and describes the hardware and software used to meet Very High Temperature Reactor Program needs.

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This report addresses the computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at Tfhrc.

In recent years, the concept of embedding composite scintillators consisting of nanosized inorganic crystals in an organic matrix has been actively pursued. Nanocomposite detectors have the potential to meet many of the homeland security, non-proliferation, and border and cargo-screening needs of the nation and, by virtue of their superior nuclear identification capability over plastic, at roughly the same cost as plastic, have the potential to replace all plastic detectors. Nanocomposites clearly have the potential of being a gamma ray detection material that would be sensitive yet less expensive and easier to produce on a large scale than growing large, whole crystals of similar sensitivity. These detectors would have a broad energy range and a sufficient energy resolution to perform isotopic identification. The material can also be fabricated on an industrial scale, further reducing cost. This investigation focused on designing and fabricating prototype core/shell and quantum dot (QD) detectors. Fourteen core/shell and four QD detectors, all with the basic consistency of a mixture of nanoparticles in a polymer matrix with different densities of nanoparticles, were prepared. Nanoparticles with sizes <10 nm were fabricated, embedded in a polystyrene matrix, and the resultant scintillators’ radiation detector properties were characterized. This work also attempted …

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The AGR-1 Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) tristructural-isotropic-particle fuel experiment underwent 13 irradiation intervals from December 2006 until November 2009 within the Idaho National Laboratory Advanced Test Reactor in support of the Next Generation Nuclear Power Plant program. During this multi-year experiment, release-to-birth rate ratios were computed at the end of each operating interval to provide information about fuel performance. Fission products released during irradiation were tracked daily by the Fission Product Monitoring System using 8-hour measurements. Birth rates calculated by MCNP with ORIGEN for as-run conditions were computed at the end of each irradiation interval. Each time step in MCNP provided neutron flux, reaction rates and AGR-1 compact composition, which were used to determine birth rates using ORIGEN. The initial birth-rate data, consisting of four values for each irradiation interval at the beginning, end, and two intermediate times, were interpolated to obtain values for each 8-hour activity. The problem with this method is that any daily changes in heat rates or perturbations, such as shim control movement or core/lobe power fluctuations, would not be reflected in the interpolated data and a true picture of the system would not be presented. At the conclusion of the AGR-1 experiment, great efforts were …

Computerized procedures (CPs) are an emerging technology within nuclear power plant control rooms. While CPs have been implemented internationally in advanced control rooms, to date no U.S. nuclear power plant has implemented CPs in its main control room. Yet, CPs are a reality of new plant builds and are an area of considerable interest to existing plants, which see advantages in terms of easier records management by omitting the need for updating hardcopy procedures. The overall intent of this paper is to provide a characterization of human reliability analysis (HRA) issues for computerized procedures. It is beyond the scope of this document to propose a new HRA approach or to recommend specific methods or refinements to those methods. Rather, this paper serves as a review of current HRA as it may be used for the analysis and review of computerized procedures.

This document contains summaries and lists of links dealing with bioenergy opportunity resources.

The purpose of this project is to develop a new radiolabeled peptide for imaging and treating metastatic melanoma. The immunoconjugate consists of a receptor-specific peptide that targets melanoma cells. The beta-emitter lead-212 (half-life = 10.4 hours) is linked by coordination chemistry to the peptide. After injection, the peptide targets melanoma receptors on the surfaces of melanoma cells. Lead-212 decays to the alpha-emitter bismuth-212 (half-life = 60 minutes). Alpha-particles that hit melanoma cell nuclei are likely to kill the melanoma cell. For cancer cell imaging, the lead-212 is replaced by lead-203 (half-life = 52 hours). Lead-203 emits 279 keV photons (80.1% abundance) that can be imaged and measured for biodistribution analysis, cancer imaging, and quantitative dosimetry.