The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (composed of automakers Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler) announced in January 2002 a new cooperative research effort. Known as 'FreedomCAR' (derived from 'Freedom' and 'Cooperative Automotive Research'), it represents DOE's commitment to developing public/private partnerships to fund high-risk, high-payoff research into advanced automotive technologies. Efficient fuel cell technology, which uses hydrogen to power automobiles without air pollution, is a very promising pathway to achieving the ultimate vision. The new partnership replaces and builds upon the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles initiative that ran from 1993 through 2001. The Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machines (APEEM) subprogram within the FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies now under development. Research is focused on understanding and improving the way the various new components of tomorrow's automobiles will function as a unified system to improve fuel efficiency. In supporting the development of hybrid propulsion systems, the APEEM effort has enabled the development of technologies that will significantly improve advanced vehicle efficiency, costs, and fuel economy. The APEEM subprogram supports the efforts of the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership through a three-phase approach …

Project Title: Comparison of Characterization Methods for Anisotropy and Microstructure of TRISO Particle Layers This INERI was created to support a comparative study between the newly developed two modulator generalized ellipsometry microscope (2-MGEM) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the more traditional optical polarimeter (RAPAX) at the Commissariat l' nergie Atomique (CEA). These two systems are used to measure the anisotropy of the pyrocarbon layers in tri-isotropic (TRISO) coated particle fuel, which is an important parameter related to fuel performance. Although this project was only just started in June 2007, good progress has already been made. A kickoff meeting was held at ORNL on July 30-31, 2007 to present early progress and discuss details of the proposed work plan. This meeting was of great benefit to the participants, offering an opportunity to overcome the language barrier and more thoroughly communicate project relevant information. Each technical lead gave a presentation explaining the analysis techniques used in his task and presented data on early measurements of the German reference fuels. Plans were finalized regarding what work needed to be done and how to proceed with the comparative study. Possibilities for the inclusion of other coated particle samples, in addition to …