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At least 199 records · Page 11

Seismic analysis of nuclear power plant structures

Primary structures for nuclear power plants are designed to resist expected earthquakes of the site. Two intensities are referred to as Operating Basis Earthquake and Design Basis Earthquake. These structures are required to accommodate these seismic loadings without loss of their functional integrity. Thus, no plastic yield is allowed. The application of NASTRAN in analyzing some of these seismic induced structural dynamic problems is described. NASTRAN, with some modifications, can be used to analyze most structures that are subjected to seismic loads. A brief review of the formulation of seismic-induced structural dynamics is also presented. Two typical structural problems were selected to illustrate the application of the various methods of seismic structural analysis by the NASTRAN system.

Go, J. C.↗

Precise time and Time Interval (PTTI) measurements from the navigation technology satellites and the GPS NAVSTAR-4 satellite

A time domain estimate for the NAVSTAR-4 SV clock offset was obtained for each SV pass over the GPS monitor sites, using a smoothed reference ephemeris, with corrections for ionospheric delay, tropospheric delay, earth rotation and relativistic effects. Conversion from the time domain to the frequency domain was made using the two sample Allan Variance; sigma-tau plots used to identify the noise processes. Estimates of flicker and white frequency noise for the NAVSTAR-4 rubidium frequency standard were obtained. The contribution of the reference ground clocks and other error sources to the frequency stability estimates were also considered.

Buisson, J. A.↗

Mobile spectrometer measures radar backscatter

The present article is concerned with a helicopter-borne spectrometer (Heloscat), which has been developed to permit high-quality scattering measurements from a mobile platform at remote sites. The term 'spectrometer' referes to a class of scatterometers. The term 'scatterometer' is employed to denote a specialized radar for measuring scattering coefficients as a function of angle. A spectrometer, on the other hand, is a scatterometer which can measure backscatter at several frequencies. The Heloscat system is discussed, taking into account two antennas, RF hardware, and an externally mounted pendulum for angle encoding. A dual-antenna configuration is used for cross-polarized measurements, while a single-antenna system is used for like-polarized measurements. Attention is also given to oscillator characteristics, efficient data handling, and aspects of calibration.

Gogineni, S.↗

Users of middle atmosphere models remarks

The procedure followed for shuttle operations is to calculate descent trajectories for each potential shuttle landing site using the Global Reference Atmosphere Model (GRAM) to interactively compute density along the flight path 100 times to bound the statistics. The purpose is to analyze the flight dynamics, along with calculations of heat loads during reentry. The analysis program makes use of the modified version of the Jacchia-70 atmosphere, which includes He bulges over the poles and seasonal latitude variations at lower altitudes. For the troposphere, the 4-D Model is used up to 20 km, Groves from 30 km up to 90 km. It is extrapolated over the globe and faired into the Jacchia atmosphere between 90 and 115 km. Since data on the Southern Hemisphere was lacking, what was done was that the data was flipped over and lagged 6 months. Sometimes when winds are calculated from pressure data in the model there appear to be discontinuities. Modelers indicated that the GRAM was not designed to produce winds, but good wind data is needed for the landing phase of shuttle operations. Use of atmospheric models during reentry is one application where it is obvious that a single integrated atmosphere model is required.

Gamble, Joe↗

Rate determination from vector observations

Vector observations are a common class of attitude data provided by a wide variety of attitude sensors. Attitude determination from vector observations is a well-understood process and numerous algorithms such as the TRIAD algorithm exist. These algorithms require measurement of the line of site (LOS) vector to reference objects and knowledge of the LOS directions in some predetermined reference frame. Once attitude is determined, it is a simple matter to synthesize vehicle rate using some form of lead-lag filter, and then, use it for vehicle stabilization. Many situations arise, however, in which rate knowledge is required but knowledge of the nominal LOS directions are not available. This paper presents two methods for determining spacecraft angular rates from vector observations without a priori knowledge of the vector directions. The first approach uses an extended Kalman filter with a spacecraft dynamic model and a kinematic model representing the motion of the observed LOS vectors. The second approach uses a 'differential' TRIAD algorithm to compute the incremental direction cosine matrix, from which vehicle rate is then derived.

Weiss, Jerold L.↗

Reverse Polarity Magnetized Melt Rocks from the Cretaceous/Tertiary Chicxulub Structure, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

We report paleomagnetic results for core samples of the breccia and andesitic rocks recovered from the Yucatan-6 Petrolcos Mexicanos exploratory well within the Chicxulub structure (about 60 km SSW from its center), northern Yucatan, Mexico. A previous study has shown that the rocks studied contain high iridium levels and shocked breccia clasts and an Ar/Ar date of 65.2 +/- 0.4 Ma. Andesitic rocks are characterized by stable single-component magnetizations with a mean inclination of -42.6 deg +/- 2.4 deg. Breccias present a complex paleomagnetic record characterized by multivectorial magnetizations with widely different initial NRM inclinations. However, after alternating field demagnetization, well defined characteristic components with upward inclinations are defined. IRM acquisition experiments, comparison of IRM and NRM coercivity spectra and the single component magnetization of the andesitic rocks indicate the occurrence of iron-rich titanomagnetites of single or pseudo-single domain states as the dominant magnetic carriers. Mean inclinations from the andesitic rocks and most of the breccia samples give a mean inclination of about -40 deg to -45 deg, indicating a reverse polarity for the characteristic magnetization that is consistent with geomagnetic chron 29R, which spans the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. The inclination is also consistent with the expected value (and corresponding paleolatitude) for the site estimated from the reference polar wander curve for North America. We suggest that the characteristic magnetizations for the andesitic and breccia rocks are the result of shock heating at the time of formation of the impact structure and that the age, polarity and pateolatitude are consistent with a time at the K/T boundary.

Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J.↗

Global Plate Velocities from the Global Positioning System

We have analyzed 204 days of Global Positioning System (GPS) data from the global GPS network spanning January 1991 through March 1996. On the basis of these GPS coordinate solutions, we have estimated velocities for 38 sites, mostly located on the interiors of the Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia, Nazca, North America, Pacific, and South America plates. The uncertainties of the horizontal velocity components range from 1.2 to 5.0 mm/yr. With the exception of sites on the Pacific and Nazca plates, the GPS velocities agree with absolute plate model predictions within 95% confidence. For most of the sites in North America, Antarctica, and Eurasia, the agreement is better than 2 mm/yr. We find no persuasive evidence for significant vertical motions (less than 3 standard deviations), except at four sites. Three of these four were sites constrained to geodetic reference frame velocities. The GPS velocities were then used to estimate angular velocities for eight tectonic plates. Absolute angular velocities derived from the GPS data agree with the no net rotation (NNR) NUVEL-1A model within 95% confidence except for the Pacific plate. Our pole of rotation for the Pacific plate lies 11.5 deg west of the NNR NUVEL-1A pole, with an angular speed 10% faster. Our relative angular velocities agree with NUVEL-1A except for some involving the Pacific plate. While our Pacific-North America angular velocity differs significantly from NUVEL-1A, our model and NUVEL-1A predict very small differences in relative motion along the Pacific-North America plate boundary itself. Our Pacific-Australia and Pacific- Eurasia angular velocities are significantly faster than NUVEL-1A, predicting more rapid convergence at these two plate boundaries. Along the East Pacific Pise, our Pacific-Nazca angular velocity agrees in both rate and azimuth with NUVFL-1A.

Larson, Kristine M.↗

Summary of Proton Test on the Quick Logic QL3025 at Indiana University

This issue of the Programmable Logic Application Notes is a compilation of topics: (1) Proton irradiation tests were performed on the Quick Logic QL3025 at the Indian University Cyclotron facility. The devices, tests, and results are discussed; (2) The functional failure of EEPROM's in heavy ion environment is presented; (3) the Act 1 architecture is summarized; (4) Antifuse hardness and hardness testing is updated; the single even upset (SEU) response of hardwired flip-flops is also presented; (4) Total dose results of the ACT 2 and ACT 3 circuits is presented in a chart; (5) Recent sub-micron devices testing of total dose is presented in a chart along with brief discussion; and (6) a reference to the WWW site for more articles of interest.

Katz, Richard↗

Development of a Coherent Doppler Lidar for Precision Maneuvering and Landing of Space Vehicles

A coherent Doppler lidar has been developed to address NASA’s need for a high-performance, compact, and cost-effective velocity and altitude sensor onboard its landing vehicles. Future robotic and manned missions to planetary bodies require precise ground-relative velocity vector and altitude data to execute complex descent maneuvers and safe, soft landing at a pre-designated site. This lidar sensor, referred to as a Navigation Doppler Lidar, meets the required performance of landing missions while complying with vehicle size, mass, and power constraints. Operating from over five kilometers altitude, the lidar obtains velocity and range precision measurements with 2 cm/sec and 2 meters, respectively, dominated by the vehicle motion. After a series of flight tests onboard helicopters and rocket-powered free-flyer vehicles, the Navigation Doppler Lidar is now being ruggedized for future missions to various destinations in the solar system.

Amzaherdian, Farzin↗

Corrosion Atmospheric Exposure Facility PRL #239 SWMU Assessment Report/Confirmation Sampling Work Plan

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit requires identification and evaluation of known Solid Waste Management Units (SWMU) located at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The Corrosion Atmospheric Exposure Facility (CAEF), also known as facility number K8-0600, and the Corrosion Test Area (CTA); also known as facility number K8-0237, herein referred to as the site, is designated Potential Release Location (PRL) 239 under the NASA RCRA permit. A SWMU Assessment (SA) was conducted between November 2019 and February 2020 to identify potential environmental impacts related to current and historic operations being conducted at the site. The SA included a site reconnaissance visit in February 2020, interviews with various personnel possessing knowledge of past work practices and operations at the site, and review of available historical documentation, engineering drawings, and facility inspection reports. Current site conditions were documented in photographs. Soil types and wildlife habitat were also evaluated. The objective of the assessment was to identify potential locations of concern (LOC) at the site and to determine whether further evaluation is required.

Kimberly Clower↗

Navigation Doppler Lidar

A Doppler lidar has been developed by NASA as an alternative to radars for providing velocity and altitude data to landing vehicles. Future robotic and manned missions to planetary bodies demand precise ground-relative velocity vector and altitude data to execute complex descent maneuvers for safe, soft and pinpoint landing at a pre-designated site. This lidar sensor, referred to as Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL), provides velocity and altitude data from over five kilometers altitude to within a few cm/sec and tens of centimeters precision, respectively. NDL technology will be demonstrated on two lunar landing missions this year that will serve as precursors for large robotic and manned landing missions to the Moon, Mars, and other solar system destinations. NDL can also benefit terrestrial aerial vehicles that cannot rely on the GPS for position and velocity data or require precision data relative to local ground.

Doppler Lidar↗

Part IV: Remedial Action

This part of the book focuses on the remedial action where the remedy is selected and approved with associated regulatory documentation, detailed designs are prepared, and construction and/or implementation of the remedy is completed. The application may include remediation of environmental media (e.g., subsurface sediments or surface water sources), waste processing, and/or deactivation and decommissioning of historical facilities. Once a preferred remedy is implemented, the final steps include long-term stewardship and site closure (discussed in Part V). Refer to Section 3.2 of Chapter 1, Remediation Strategy for Complex Waste Sites, for context on how these steps fit into the broader remediation process.

Johnson, Christian D.↗

United States Utility-Scale PV Supply Curves 2023

This data packet contains supply curves, hourly generation profiles, and a composite siting exclusion TIFF for utility-scale PV across the contiguous United States. The supply curves offer comprehensive metrics such as capacity (MW), generation (MWh), levelized cost of energy (LCOE), levelized cost of transmission (LCOT), and more for each reV site (~60,000 sites). Hourly generation profiles are available for each reV site and can be matched to the available capacity in the supply curve (refer to the Jupyter Notebook). The composite exclusion TIFF is a single file that delineates areas where PV installations are permissible based on various siting assumptions. This data packet contains information for the Reference and Limited siting scenarios. For further details and citation, please refer to the publication linked below: Lopez, Anthony, Pavlo Pinchuk, Michael Gleason, Wesley Cole, Trieu Mai, Travis Williams, Owen Roberts, Marie Rivers, Mike Bannister, Sophie-Min Thomson, Gabe Zuckerman, and Brian Sergi. 2024. Solar Photovoltaics and Land-Based Wind Technical Potential and Supply Curves for the Contiguous United States: 2023 Edition. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-87843.

2023↗

San José Urban Development: Quantifying Canopy Cover and Land Surface Temperature in San José to Identify Future Tree Planting Sites

The urban heat island effect refers to the phenomenon of substantially increased temperatures in urban areas compared to their surrounding suburban or rural counterparts. The City of San José’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) and Department of Transportation (DOT) work to mitigate the UHI effect through urban forestry initiatives. The PRNS and DOT partnered with NASA DEVELOP to identify areas in need of tree plantings. We examined land surface temperature (LST) throughout the city using data from the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and TIRS-2 on NASA’s Landsat 8 and 9 satellites from 2013 to 2024. We also assessed canopy cover in parks using LiDAR data collected in 2020 for the United States Geological Survey’s 3D Elevation Program, and measured vegetation greenness using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with PlanetScope imagery from 2018 to 2024. We evaluated social and environmental factors that influence the distribution of heat event impacts by creating a heat vulnerability index. We found that heat is concentrated in urban areas and that poor vegetation health is associated with high LST. We also found that socially vulnerable communities are disproportionately located in areas of high environmental risk. These analyses allow the partners to prioritize tree plantings in parks near areas of high social and environmental risk. We determined that Earth observations can be used to inform urban forestry decision making, but because methodologies for using LiDAR to assess canopy cover vary greatly, it is difficult to make comparisons across different canopy cover assessments.

land surface temperature↗

Recommended Practices for Managing Induced Seismicity Risk Associated with Geologic Carbon Storage

The geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is one method to help reduce or eliminate atmospheric CO 2 emissions. The sequestered CO 2 is originally captured from the atmosphere or from a stationary industrial source and subsequently injected into a deep subsurface porous rock formation. To facilitate the successful deployment of field scale carbon storage projects, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing tools and protocols for defensible, science-based frameworks to quantify and mitigate risks associated with the long-term storage of CO 2 . This protocol specifically addresses the risk of induced seismicity due to injection in a geologic carbon storage (GCS) site. This integrated and risk-based protocol is a product of the U.S. DOE Fossil Energy’s National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP), a multi-year collaborative research effort of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). These recommended practices describe a set of 7 steps to evaluate, manage, communicate, and mitigate the risk of induced seismicity at GCS sites. The base methodology of the recommended practices follows a framework similar to the Protocol for Addressing Induced Seismicity Associated with Enhanced Geothermal Systems (Majer et al., 2012), developed for the Geothermal Technology Office of the U.S. DOE. These recommended practices present a framework to systematically assess the induced seismicity risk and quantify the associated uncertainties. These recommendations are based on current research and are sufficiently general to allow for modification and application to a variety of different types of sites. The substance of the recommended practices contained herein includes both technical and non-technical issues, and covers all operational stages of the GCS project lifecycle. They start at the preliminary risk assessment phase, continue through site assessment and characterization, include best practice communication and seismic monitoring plan methodologies, discuss the evaluation and mitigation of seismic hazard and risk, and closes with an exploration of operational management plans, which conclude when the induced seismicity risk abates back to background level. The focus of these recommendations is on actively managing the risks associated with induced seismicity by developing an actionable risk management plan that starts at the project proposal stage and continues through site closure through an iterative assessment and improvement process. The audience of this document is expected to include all interested stakeholders (e.g., operators, project developers, regulators, and the general public) and is expressly written to be accessible to this broad range of partners. This document is intended to disseminate knowledge gained through recent advances in the science of induced seismicity hazard and risk assessments, to provide updates based on recent experience gained by similar corollary injection-induced seismicity cases, and most importantly to establish a uniform framework to carry out a successful induced seismicity risk management plan for carbon storage projects in the future. These recommendations do not directly address any domestic or international regulations or standards. A complementary NRAP report makes recommendations for the assessment and management of environmental subsurface risks associated with unwanted fluid migration at GCS sites (Thomas et al., 2021) and should be referred to in order to address those additional GCS site risks.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Recommended Practices for Managing Induced Seismicity Risk Associated with Geologic Carbon Storage

The geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is one method to help reduce or eliminate atmospheric CO 2 emissions. The sequestered CO 2 is originally captured from the atmosphere or from a stationary industrial source and subsequently injected into a deep subsurface porous rock formation. To facilitate the successful deployment of field scale carbon storage projects, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is developing tools and protocols for defensible, science-based frameworks to quantify and mitigate risks associated with the long-term storage of CO 2 . This protocol specifically addresses the risk of induced seismicity due to injection in a geologic carbon storage (GCS) site. This integrated and risk-based protocol is a product of the U.S. DOE Fossil Energy’s National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP), a multi-year collaborative research effort of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). These recommended practices describe a set of 7 steps to evaluate, manage, communicate, and mitigate the risk of induced seismicity at GCS sites. The base methodology of the recommended practices follows a framework similar to the $\textit{Protocol for Addressing Induced Seismicity Associated with Enhanced Geothermal Systems}$ (Majer et al., 2012), developed for the Geothermal Technology Office of the U.S. DOE. These recommended practices present a framework to systematically assess the induced seismicity risk and quantify the associated uncertainties. These recommendations are based on current research and are sufficiently general to allow for modification and application to a variety of different types of sites. The substance of the recommended practices contained herein includes both technical and non-technical issues, and covers all operational stages of the GCS project lifecycle. They start at the preliminary risk assessment phase, continue through site assessment and characterization, include best practice communication and seismic monitoring plan methodologies, discuss the evaluation and mitigation of seismic hazard and risk, and closes with an exploration of operational management plans, which conclude when the induced seismicity risk abates back to background level. The focus of these recommendations is on actively managing the risks associated with induced seismicity by developing an actionable risk management plan that starts at the project proposal stage and continues through site closure through an iterative assessment and improvement process. The audience of this document is expected to include all interested stakeholders (e.g., operators, project developers, regulators, and the general public) and is expressly written to be accessible to this broad range of partners. This document is intended to disseminate knowledge gained through recent advances in the science of induced seismicity hazard and risk assessments, to provide updates based on recent experience gained by similar corollary injection-induced seismicity cases, and most importantly to establish a uniform framework to carry out a successful induced seismicity risk management plan for carbon storage projects in the future. These recommendations do not directly address any domestic or international regulations or standards. A complementary NRAP report makes recommendations for the assessment and management of environmental subsurface risks associated with unwanted fluid migration at GCS sites (Thomas et al., 2021) and should be referred to in order to address those additional GCS site risks

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

United States Land-based Wind Supply Curves 2023

This data packet contains supply curves, hourly generation profiles, and a composite siting exclusion TIFF for land-based wind across the contiguous United States. The supply curves offer comprehensive metrics such as capacity (MW), generation (MWh), levelized cost of energy (LCOE), levelized cost of transmission (LCOT), and more for each reV site (~60,000 sites). Hourly generation profiles are available for each reV site and can be matched to the available capacity in the supply curve (refer to the Jupyter Notebook). The composite exclusion TIFF is a single file that delineates areas where wind installations are permissible based on various siting assumptions. This data packet contains information for the Reference and Limited siting scenarios. The turbine parameters used were a hub-height of 115 meters and a rotor diameter of 170 meters, as obtained from the Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) 2022. For further details and citation, please refer to the publication linked below: Lopez, Anthony, Pavlo Pinchuk, Michael Gleason, Wesley Cole, Trieu Mai, Travis Williams, Owen Roberts, Marie Rivers, Mike Bannister, Sophie-Min Thomson, Gabe Zuckerman, and Brian Sergi. 2024. Solar Photovoltaics and Land-Based Wind Technical Potential and Supply Curves for the Contiguous United States: 2023 Edition. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-87843.

2023↗