Since 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has worked to ensure the safe and responsible promotion of nuclear technology throughout the world. The IAEA operates at the intersection of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty’s (NPT) fourth and third articles, which guarantee Parties to the Treaty the right to peaceful uses of nuclear technology, provided those activities are placed under safeguards verified by the IAEA. However, while the IAEA has enjoyed substantial success and prestige in the international community, there is a concern that its resources are being stretched to a point where it may no longer be possible to execute its multifaceted mission in its entirety. As noted by the Director General (DG) in 2008, demographics suggest that every aspect of the IAEA’s operations will be in higher demand due to increasing reliance on non-carbon-based energy and the concomitant nonproliferation, safety, and security risks that growth entails. In addition to these nuclear energy concerns, the demand for technical developmental assistance in the fields of food security, resource conservation, and human health is also predicted to increase as the rest of the world develops. Even with a 100% value-for-money rating by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and being …

The objective of this project is to research and develop a thermal energy storage system (operating range 3000C – 450 0C ) based on encapsulated phase change materials (PCM) that can meet the utility-scale base-load concentrated solar power plant requirements at much lower system costs compared to the existing thermal energy storage (TES) concepts. The major focus of this program is to develop suitable encapsulation methods for existing low-cost phase change materials that would provide a cost effective and reliable solution for thermal energy storage to be integrated in solar thermal power plants. This project proposes a TES system concept that will allow for an increase of the capacity factor of the present CSP technologies to 75% or greater and reduce the cost to less than $20/kWht.

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The research outlined below established theoretical proof-of-concept using ab initio calculations that {sup 3}He can be separated from {sup 4}He by taking advantage of weak van der Waals interactions with other higher molecular weight rare gases such as xenon. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only suggested method that exploits the physical differences of the isotopes using a chemical interaction.