Engineering topics
Olson, C.
Publications and source records attributed to Olson, C..
The Next Generation System Analysis Model: Capabilities for Simulating a Waste Management System - 19131
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition's Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS) program is applying integrated waste management system architecture analysis, system engineering, and decision analysis principles to inform potential future decisions regarding potential nuclear waste management system architectures. Architecture analyses of the IWMS are being conducted to support the future deployment of a comprehensive system for managing nuclear waste that considers all major aspects of the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle (i.e., transportation, storage, and disposal). The system architecture analyses consider alternative disposition pathways for commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) being stored dry in at-reactor Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs) or wet in spent-fuel pools. One method for evaluating these alternatives is simulating the movement of SNF throughout the system components. Successfully simulating a system on the scale of a national waste management system requires - accurate baseline information (e.g., historic fuel discharges from reactors and dry storage loadings at reactor sites), - modeling all logistic interactions between components of the proposed system, and - tracking and reporting all relevant details regarding the simulation's execution. The Next Generation System Analysis Model (NGSAM) is an agent-based simulation software tool designed for the express purpose of modeling the IWMS. It is based on the Performance Analysis Tool, a simulation platform that has been used to model logistics for the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Using existing, government-owned software allows NGSAM developers to modify the software at the level of source code and to develop flexible usability and modeling solutions for developing and running simulations of the IWMS. NGSAM imports data from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Unified Database (e.g., historic assembly information, thermal profiles for assembly heat, at-reactor dry storage loadings) to ensure that the simulation initializes with a realistic representation of the state of commercial SNF in the United States. NGSAM is designed with the flexibility to model and track the behavior of virtually any IWMS architecture assumptions or design considerations. For example, NGSAM can model multiple interim storage facilities or repositories or none at all. Similarly, all assumptions regarding shipment schedules, operating schedules, and reactor operation assumptions can be modeled and adjusted in NGSAM with relative ease. The development of NGSAM was targeted to waste management system analysts as the primary users. With that in mind, analysts from ORNL, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) were intimately involved in the development process. That involvement extended beyond merely defining requirements. System analysts have been involved with design decisions and software benchmarking and tests, and they have provided subject-matter expertise where necessary. The result is a high degree of interaction between professional software developers and system analysts, with a multitude of benefits to both groups. This paper explores some of the underlying methodology of the agile software development process used in the creation of NGSAM. It illustrates the capabilities of NGSAM. Some example use cases are discussed as well, with relevant results providing context for how NGSAM is used by system analysts to gain a greater understanding of alternative waste management system architectures. This is a technical paper that does not take into account the contractual limitations under the Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High-Level Radioactive Waste (Standard Contract) (10 CFR Part 961). Under the provisions of the Standard Contract, DOE does not consider spent nuclear fuel in multi-assembly canisters to be an acceptable waste form, absent a mutually agreed-to contract amendment. To the extent discussions or recommendations in this paper conflict with the provisions of the Standard Contract, the Standard Contract provisions prevail. (authors)
Mercury in Active-Layer Tundra Soils of Alaska: Concentrations, Pools, Origins, and Spatial Distribution
Tundra soils serve as major sources of mercury (Hg) input to the Arctic Ocean via river runoff and coastal erosion; yet little information is available on tundra soil Hg concentrations, pool sizes, origins, and dynamics. We present a detailed investigation of Hg in the active layer (upper ~100 cm subject to seasonal thaw) of tundra soils across 11 sites in Alaska. Soil Hg concentrations in organic horizons (151 ± 7 μg/kg) were in the upper range of temperate soil organic horizons, and concentrations in mineral horizons (98 ± 6 μg/kg) were much higher than in temperate soils. Soil Hg concentrations declined from inland to coastal sites, in contrast to a hypothesized northward increase expected because of proximity to coastal atmospheric mercury depletion events. Principle component analyses and elemental ratios results show that exogenic sources dominated over geogenic sources—in A-horizons (66 ± 4%) and mineral B-horizons (51 ± 1%). 14 C age-dating suggested recent origins of Hg in surface soils but showed that mineral soils (more than 7,300 years old) must have accumulated atmospheric inputs across millennia leading to high soil concentrations and pools. We estimated a total Northern Hemisphere active-layer tundra soil Hg pool of 184 Gg (range of 136 to 274 Gg), suggesting a globally important Hg storage pool. Tundra soils are subject to seasonal thaw and freeze dynamics, thereby providing large inputs to rivers, lakes, and the Arctic Ocean. Understanding processes that mobilize Hg from tundra soils will be critical to understanding future Arctic wildlife and human Hg exposures.
Instruction Book for the 6575 Modulator
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Operation of the PEP Transverse Beam Feedback
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Computing depth maps from descent imagery
This paper addresses the generation depth maps from the descent images.
Multi-resolution mapping using surface, descent and orbit images
Our objective is to produce high-accuracy maps of the terrain elevation at landing sites on planetary bodies through the use of all available image data. These technologies are important for performing rover navigation in future space missions and the maps provide a tool for coordinating rovers in a robotic colony.
Real-Time Object Recognition in Color Imagery
Military test ranges containing unexploded ordnance due to live-fire testing and training exercises are a significant safety problem in many locations.
Maxium-Likelihood Template Matching
In image matching applications such as tracking and stereo matching, it is common to use the sum-of-squared-differences (SSD) measure to determine the best match for an image template.
Robust Stereo Ego-Motion for Long Distance Navigation
Several methods for computing observer motion from monocular and stereo image sequences have been proposed.
Landmark Selection for Terrain Matching
We describe techniques to optimally select landmarks in order to perform mobile robot localization in matching terrain maps.
A General Method for Geometric Feature Matching and Model Extraction
Popular algorithms for feature matching and model extraction fall into two broad categories, generate-and-test and Hough transform variations.
Long Range Navigation For Mars Rovers Using Sensor-Based Path Planning and Visual Localisation
The Mars Pathfinder mission illustrated the benefits of including a mobile robotic explorer on a plantary mission.
Subpixel Localization and Uncertainty Estimation Using Occupancy Grids
We describe techniques for performing mobile robot localization using occupancy grids that enable both subpixel localization to be performed and uncertainty estimates to be computed.
Enhanced Mars Rover Navigation Techniques
Robust navigation through rocky terrain by small mobile robots is important for maximizing science return from upcoming missions to Mars.
Probabilistic Self-Localization for Mobile Robots
Localization is a critical issue in mobile robotics.
Adaptive Filtering and Edge Detection Using Range Data
It is typical in edge and corner detection applications to examine a single scale or to consider some space of scales in the image without knowing which scale is appropriate for each location in the image.
Variable-Scale Smoothing and Edge Detection Guided by Stereoscopy
The edges that are detected are thus at the same scale in the world, rather than at the same scale in the image.