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NASA’s Safety, Reliability, and Mission Assurance Digital Future

The evolution from “document-centric” to “data-centric” and “model-centric” information leveraging structured data and model-based approaches is at the heart of digital engineering transformational efforts underway across industry and government. It is these approaches that pave the way for data lakes, Authoritative Sources of Truth (ASOTs), and systems- of-systems interoperability and the corresponding transformational benefits thereof. Such benefits include increased data availability, data access equity, data traceability, real-time analytics, batch analytics, and (most importantly) acceleration of the time-to-value and time-to-insights associated with engineering products and analyses. The longer-term benefits of reusability, customization and traceability are even more promising. For Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA), and Mission Success (SMS) activities; realization of such benefits is essential to provide engineers and analysts alike vital information when needed to support critical decision making throughout the entire life cycle. The SMA community often operate in parallel with engineering activities, for which information exchange with relevant context is paramount. Far too often, such information lags key decision points and/or is absent of the robust, integrated, knowledge needed, given inherent barriers associated with traditional document-centric means to data sharing, analysis, and reporting. This paper provides an overview of how NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) is evolving its policies, standards, guidance, and training to transform to eliminate such barriers, thus realizing the benefits emerging in this new digital era. A roadmap for achieving this digital future is presented along with key building blocks involving use and implementation of concepts such as: Objectives-Hierarchies, Objective-Driven Requirements, Accepted Standards, Safety and Assurance Cases, data digitization (i.e., ontologies, structured data, and model-centric data), FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, & Reusable) and/or FAIRUST (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable, Understandable, Secure, and Trusted) principles [1]. This paper also describes how OSMA, leveraging the Agency’s overall commitment to Digital Transformation (DT), is using the power of Policy, “Digital” Domain representation, Product Evolution, and Community Outreach and Engagement as part of a strategic vision and roadmap to evolve and transform its SMA organizations to become better able to serve its stakeholders and customers. Future publications will elaborate on these building blocks and deeper concepts.

Authoritative Source of Truth (ASOT),↗
DOE OSTI2021

Man‐in‐the‐middle attacks and defence in a power system cyber‐physical testbed

Abstract Man‐in‐The‐Middle (MiTM) attacks present numerous threats to a smart grid. In a MiTM attack, an intruder embeds itself within a conversation between two devices to either eavesdrop or impersonate one of the devices, making it appear to be a normal exchange of information. Thus, the intruder can perform false data injection (FDI) and false command injection (FCI) attacks that can compromise power system operations, such as state estimation, economic dispatch, and automatic generation control (AGC). Very few researchers have focused on MiTM methods that are difficult to detect within a smart grid. To address this, we are designing and implementing multi‐stage MiTM intrusions in an emulation‐based cyber‐physical power system testbed against a large‐scale synthetic grid model to demonstrate how such attacks can cause physical contingencies such as misguided operation and false measurements. MiTM intrusions create FCI, FDI, and replay attacks in this synthetic power grid. This work enables stakeholders to defend against these stealthy attacks, and we present detection mechanisms that are developed using multiple alerts from intrusion detection systems and network monitoring tools. Our contribution will enable other smart grid security researchers and industry to develop further detection mechanisms for inconspicuous MiTM attacks.

Wlazlo, Patrick↗
DOE OSTI2021

Unbalancing Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation: Can We Make Effectiveness More Effective?

One of the most critical uses of carbon fuels is in generating nitrogen fertilizer. Atmospheric dinitrogen is too stable to be used directly by plants, so plants need other chemical forms of nitrogen. Nitrogen fertilizer production uses ~4% of the world’s natural gas. Making N fertilizers leverages methane’s energy content by enabling additional energy to be captured into food and fiber through increased photosynthesis. Manufacturing fertilizer is essential—without it there would only be enough combined nitrogen to feed ~3 billion of the world’s ~7 billion people. How to alter this addiction is not obvious, but the best chance to secure substantial and sustainable amounts of future N might be through symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF). SNF describes mutualistic interactions where nitrogen-fixing bacteria provide fixed nitrogen to their plant hosts, freeing them from the need for nitrogen fertilizers. SNF already occurs on a large scale; "biological nitrogen” contributes about 5 Tg N/yr to American agriculture, a quarter of the nitrogen needed. Improving SNF and replacing inorganic fertilizers are both important goals in establishing sustainable and more energy-efficient farming. SNF has been used in agriculture for millennia, largely by using legumes like beans or alfalfa in mixed cropping systems. Legume SNF occurs in root nodules, organs that develop after a growing root is infected by bacteria called rhizobia. In the plant cells of a legume nodule, specialized forms of rhizobia fix nitrogen and can produce enough ammonia to supply the growing plant. The exchange of photosynthetically derived plant carbon compounds for nitrogen reduced by the bacteria is the engine that drives the symbiosis. Important details about the organization of development and metabolism in SNF remain to be determined, such as how plant and bacterial metabolism are coordinated as nitrogen is being fixed and what governs the overall level of nitrogen fixation. Most bacterial mutations that affect SNF completely block fixation (e.g. are Fix – ), providing a limited window into the feedback interactions that must be part of the process. We have investigated an unusual mutant of Sinorhizobium meliloti, a symbiotic partner of alfalfa, that fixes dinitrogen at a normal rate (i.e., it is Fix + ) but is not effective in supporting plant growth (i.e., it is ineffective or Eff – ). We have shown that the mutant has a specific mutation in the glnD gene, which codes for a protein that regulates the bacterial response to nitrogen stress, among other key pathways. A Fix + Eff – phenotype contains an unavoidable puzzle—how is it possible for the bacteria to fix nitrogen at a normal rate and without benefiting the nitrogen starved plant host? After eliminating other possibilities, we proposed that the bacteria synthesize a nitrogen-containing compound that the plant can’t use so that acquiring this compound does not relieve plant nitrogen stress. Extracts of nodules made by glnD mutant strains have high concentrations of pyruvate canaline oxime (PCO), a derivative of the plant defensive compound canaline, a toxic analog of ornithine, an amino acid. Many legumes produce canaline and the related arginine mimic canavanine. For reasons we do not yet understand, the mutation in glnD appears to trigger significant overproduction of canaline in a defense response that leads to substantial synthesis of PCO. We expected the bacteria to be able to use PCO, but we have not been able to grow S. meliloti on PCO under several conditions. PCO thus appears to be a metabolic dead end for both the plant and bacteria. We also examined bacterial catabolic pathways that degrade arginine and canavanine and showed that mutation of these did not alter the symbiosis in an obvious way. In related experiments to examine the metabolic development of root nodules, we carried out an ambitious experiment to simultaneously measure metabolites and protein changes during nodule maturation. For these experiments we used a related symbiotic interaction between S. medicae and Medicago truncatula. M. truncatula has a simpler genome than alfalfa so we could identify plant proteins based on predictions from the DNA sequence. Nodules formed on Medicago grow linearly, with the least mature tissues at the tip. Because development of nitrogen fixation is accompanied by the production of the pigmented plant oxygen carrier protein leghemoglobin, we were able to locate and manually separate the tip, transitional, and mature nitrogen-fixing regions from each other. Advances in proteomic and metabolomic techniques allowed us to analyze these tissues from a pool of as few as 10 nodules. We observed correlated transitions of various enzymes in the plant and bacterial proteomes from those characteristic of free-living metabolism to the microaerobic metabolism of the nitrogen-fixing tissues. The metabolome could not be separated into plant and bacterial domains but was consistent with this overall transition. A subsequent paper examined proteolysis in nodule bacteria. Protein turnover in mature regions of the nodule is significant. We were able to show complexes between various proteins and important proteases, using precipitation capture techniques to isolate the proteases and sensitive proteomic analysis to reveal the associated proteins.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA Tech Briefs, January 2012

Contents of this issue are: (1) Energy-Based Tetrahedron Sensor for High-Temperature, High-Pressure Environments (2) Handheld Universal Diagnostic Sensor (3) Large-Area Vacuum Ultraviolet Sensors (4) Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor System for Monitoring Smart Composite Aerospace Structures (5) Health-Enabled Smart Sensor Fusion Technology (6) Extended-Range Passive RFID and Sensor Tags (7) Hybrid Collaborative Learning for Classification and Clustering in Sensor Networks (8) Self-Healing, Inflatable, Rigidizable Shelter (9) Improvements in Cold-Plate Fabrication (10) Technique for Radiometer and Antenna Array Calibration - TRAAC (11) Real-Time Cognitive Computing Architecture for Data Fusion in a Dynamic Environment (12) Programmable Digital Controller (13) Use of CCSDS Packets Over SpaceWire to Control Hardware (14) Key Decision Record Creation and Approval Module (15) Enhanced Graphics for Extended Scale Range (16) Debris Examination Using Ballistic and Radar Integrated Software (17) Data Distribution System (DDS) and Solar Dynamic Observatory Ground Station (SDOGS) (18) Integration Manager (19) Eclipse-Free-Time Assessment Tool for IRIS (20) Automated and Manual Rocket Crater Measurement Software (21) MATLAB Stability and Control Toolbox Trim and Static Stability Module (22) Patched Conic Trajectory Code (23) Ring Image Analyzer (24) SureTrak Probability of Impact Display (25) Implementation of a Non-Metallic Barrier in an Electric Motor (26) Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Heat Exchangers for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover (27) Uniform Dust Distributor for Testing Radiative Emittance of Dust-Coated Surfaces (28) MicroProbe Small Unmanned Aerial System (29) Highly Stable and Active Catalyst for Sabatier Reactions (30) Better Proton-Conducting Polymers for Fuel-Cell Membranes (31) CCD Camera Lens Interface for Real-Time Theodolite Alignment (32) Peregrine 100-km Sounding Rocket Project (33) SOFIA Closed- and Open-Door Aerodynamic Analyses (34) Sonic Thermometer for High-Altitude Balloons (35) Near-Infrared Photon-Counting Camera for High-Sensitivity Observations (36) Integrated Optics Achromatic Nuller for Stellar Interferometry (37) High-Speed Digital Interferometry (38) Ultra-Miniature Lidar Scanner for Launch Range Data Collection (39) Shape and Color Features for Object Recognition Search (40) Explanation Capabilities for Behavior-Based Robot Control (41) A DNA-Inspired Encryption Methodology for Secure, Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (42) Quality Control Method for a Micro-Nano-Channel Microfabricated Device (43) Corner-Cube Retroreflector Instrument for Advanced Lunar Laser Ranging (44) Electrospray Collection of Lunar Dust (45) Fabrication of a Kilopixel Array of Superconducting Microcalorimeters with Microstripline Wiring Spacecraft Attitude Tracking and Maneuver Using Combined Magnetic Actuators (46) Coherent Detector for Near-Angle Scattering and Polarization Characterization of Telescope Mirror Coatings

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Simple XML Producer-Consumer Protocol

There are many different projects from government, academia, and industry that provide services for delivering events in distributed environments. The problem with these event services is that they are not general enough to support all uses and they speak different protocols so that they cannot interoperate. We require such interoperability when we, for example, wish to analyze the performance of an application in a distributed environment. Such an analysis might require performance information from the application, computer systems, networks, and scientific instruments. In this work we propose and evaluate a standard XML-based protocol for the transmission of events in distributed systems. One recent trend in government and academic research is the development and deployment of computational grids. Computational grids are large-scale distributed systems that typically consist of high-performance compute, storage, and networking resources. Examples of such computational grids are the DOE Science Grid, the NASA Information Power Grid (IPG), and the NSF Partnerships for Advanced Computing Infrastructure (PACIs). The major effort to deploy these grids is in the area of developing the software services to allow users to execute applications on these large and diverse sets of resources. These services include security, execution of remote applications, managing remote data, access to information about resources and services, and so on. There are several toolkits for providing these services such as Globus, Legion, and Condor. As part of these efforts to develop computational grids, the Global Grid Forum is working to standardize the protocols and APIs used by various grid services. This standardization will allow interoperability between the client and server software of the toolkits that are providing the grid services. The goal of the Performance Working Group of the Grid Forum is to standardize protocols and representations related to the storage and distribution of performance data. These standard protocols and representations must support tasks such as profiling parallel applications, monitoring the status of computers and networks, and monitoring the performance of services provided by a computational grid. This paper describes a proposed protocol and data representation for the exchange of events in a distributed system. The protocol exchanges messages formatted in XML and it can be layered atop any low-level communication protocol such as TCP or UDP Further, we describe Java and C++ implementations of this protocol and discuss their performance. The next section will provide some further background information. Section 3 describes the main communication patterns of our protocol. Section 4 describes how we represent events and related information using XML. Section 5 describes our protocol and Section 6 discusses the performance of two implementations of the protocol. Finally, an appendix provides the XML Schema definition of our protocol and event information.

Smith, Warren↗
DOE OSTI2024

Adoption of a token-based authentication model for the CMS Submission Infrastructure

The CMS Submission Infrastructure (SI) is the main computing resource provisioning system for CMS workloads. A number of HTCondor pools are employed to manage this infrastructure, which aggregates geographically distributed resources from the WLCG and other providers. Historically, the model of authentication among the diverse components of this infrastructure has relied on the Grid Security Infrastructure (GSI), based on identities and X509 certificates. In contrast, commonly used modern authentication standards are based on capabilities and tokens. The WLCG has identified this trend and aims at a transparent replacement of GSI for all its workload management, data transfer and storage access operations, to be completed during the current LHC Run 3. As part of this effort, and within the context of CMS computing, the Submission Infrastructure group is in the process of phasing out the GSI part of its authentication layers, in favor of IDTokens and Scitokens. The use of tokens is already well integrated into the HTCondor Software Suite, which has allowed us to fully migrate the authentication between internal components of SI. Additionally, recent versions of the HTCondor-CE support tokens as well, enabling CMS resource requests to Grid sites employing this CE technology to be granted by means of token exchange. After a rollout campaign to sites, successfully completed by the third quarter of 2022, the totality of HTCondor CEs in use by CMS are already receiving Scitoken-based pilot jobs. On the ARC CE side, a parallel campaign was launched to foster the adoption of the REST interface at CMS sites (required to enable token-based job submission via HTCondor-G), which is nearing completion as well. In this contribution, the newly adopted authentication model will be described. We will then report on the migration status and final steps towards complete GSI phase out in the CMS SI.

Pérez-Calero Yzquierdo, Antonio↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Way to the Future Has Already Started: ICAO Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN) Using Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) Standards and Protocol Evolution Update

Millions of people are able to exchange information over phones, computers, tablets and an array of new interconnected devices such as sensors, cameras, home appliances and others are increasingly becoming networked. At the core of this sizeable interconnection is a set of underlying protocols that enable millions of devices to seamlessly talk to each other. Aviation, as many other industries have, utilizes the internet protocol for ground-to-ground network communications and efforts are underway to bring it to the cockpit.In 2015, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) published the second edition of Document 9896 (Doc 9896) titled: Manual on the Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN) using Internet Protocol Suite (IPS) Standards and Protocol. This manual adopted the Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) for Internet layer interoperability. Document 9896 defined data communications protocols and services to be used for implementing aeronautical telecommunication network (ATN) using the Internet protocol suite (IPS). The document provided technical specifications that addressed security, network and transport protocols, described applications, supported by ATN/IPS and provided communications guidance. The international aviation community working under the guidance of ICAO initiated work on updates to Doc 9896. Under the ICAO Communication Panel, Working Group Internetworking (WG-I) got this challenging task. Key areas of work for WG-I are related to ATN/IPS Security and ANT/IPS Mobility. Two sub-groups have been assembled to work on these elements. The ICAO anticipates the release of updated Doc 9896 in 2020. Additional ATN/IPS standardization efforts include Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics Special Committee 223 (RTCA SC-223) IPS profile development, Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee (AEEC) A658 Roadmap of IPS future activities and European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) WG-108 development of guidance documentation.This paper describes ICAO WG-I approach to update key areas of the document in closed coordination with AEEC, RTCA and EUROCAE committees supporting the development of ATN/IPS. Additionally, the paper will explore WG-I mobility solutions under investigation, security developments, IPv6 addressing challenges and other proposed updates. Finally, as new operational expectations such as Free Route and Remote Piloted Aircraft System integration are currently pushing the boundaries set by old operational concepts, the paper identifies the emerging new challenges that will drive the ATN/IPS development beyond 2020. They are related to future voice utilization, System Wide Information Management and Remotely Piloted Aircraft System deployment. IPS systems are seen as the only way forward.

Apaza, Rafael↗
DOE OSTI2020

Microbiome to Function: Next Generation Eco-Microbiology Workshop Report

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program champions the predictive understanding of complex biological systems to enable energy and infrastructure security. To support this challenging endeavor, BER began funding Science Focus Area (SFA) projects at the national labs a decade ago in order to foster scientific advances that are more easily achieved by sustained team research. BER has recently encouraged collaboration among SFAs as a means to accelerate innovation and scientific impact. To facilitate BER’s vision, the Bioscience Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) proposed an annual pan-SFA workshop that would rotate among the National Labs. LANL hosted the first workshop in September 2019 to explore a common challenge—understanding how microbiomes function—and to promote collaboration opportunities among SFAs in BER’s Microbial Genomics Program. The workshop comprised overview presentations of the eight SFAs and two SFA pilots and discussions of near- and midterm opportunities to foster collaboration. These opportunities include 1) sharing isolates, 2) sharing data and storage, 3) establishing common standards and best practices, and 4) fostering scientific exchanges.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Capabilities Development at the University of Texas at El Paso for Hydrogen Generation Research and Education

Gasification-based systems have recently received much attention due to their capability of converting wastes into useful fuels. The gasification of biomass, municipal solid waste (MSW), plastics, and other sustainable resources has shown promise in hydrogen production. When coupled to a CCU or CCS unit, these systems have the potential to achieve carbon neutrality or carbon-negative emissions. In addition, these systems have an edge over conventional incineration or landfill systems by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and recovering useful energy. However, the gasification of MSW and other wastes is still in its early stages. In particular, co-gasification of wastes with biomass has significant unknowns in optimizing the reaction kinetics, operability, design and performance improvements. Currently, Supercritical Water Gasifiers (SCWG) and Plasma Gasifiers are the major systems that are capable of producing high hydrogen amounts from Biomass and MSW, respectively. However, both systems have high capital and operating costs, adversely affecting efficiency and the hydrogen production cost. Additionally, due to lower temperatures, SCWGs are prone to tar formation and fouling in the heat exchangers. Hence, there is a need to look for alternative solutions for MSW and biomass gasifications, particularly in co-gasification. The current effort aims to develop a strategic plan to establish a sustainable gasification facility for hydrogen research at the University of Texas at El (UTEP). A major part of this effort involves an extensive literature survey to identify technological gaps and potential areas of interest. Several concepts were developed in accordance with the current demands from the literature survey. Based on the concepts, a center-wide capability assessment was conducted to measure the current capacity and feasibility of establishing hydrogen research. Afterward, a strategic research plan was developed, and a list of required resources was made for the expansion of hydrogen research at UTEP. In addition, successful partnerships with the local county and the city were developed to pursue hydrogen research. The strategic goal setting and planning of UTEP Aerospace Center resulted in securing $2.5 million in external support to expand the hydrogen research during the project performance period. In addition, during the project period, a course in Hydrogen Energy Systems was developed to expand the energy curriculum at the UTEP Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department. The course focused on hydrogen production, storage, supply and delivery and application. The cross-listed course was offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels during the Spring 2024 semester and had 27 enrolled students. Moreover, the students supported under this award were trained in gasification process modeling, CAD, CFD and FEA during the project period. The training enabled the students to move into new projects to support gasification design, integrated gasification combined cycle process plant analysis, gasifier structural and operational analysis, and digitally threading the systems.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Disrupting EV Charging Sessions and Gaining Remote Code Execution with DoS, MITM, and Code Injection Exploits using OCPP 1.6

Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) 1.6 is widely used in the electric vehicle (EV) charging industry to communicate between Charging System Management Services (CSMSs) and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). Unlike OCPP 2.0.1, OCPP 1.6 uses unencrypted websocket communications to exchange information between EVSE devices and an onpremise or cloud-based CSMS. In this work, we demonstrate two machine-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks on OCPP sessions to terminate charging sessions and gain root access to the EVSE equipment via remote code execution (RCE). Second, we demonstrate a malicious firmware update with a code injection payload to compromise an EVSE. Lastly, we demonstrate two methods to prevent availability of the EVSE or CSMS. One of these, originally reported by SaiFlow, prevents traffic to legitimate EVSE equipment using a DoS-like attack on CSMSs by repeatedly connecting and authenticating several CPs with the same identities as the legitimate CP. These vulnerabilities were demonstrated with proof-of-concept exploits in a virtualized Cyber Range at Wright State University and/or with a 350 kW Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) at Idaho National Laboratory. The team found that OCPP 1.6 could be protected from these attacks by adding secure shell (SSH) tunnels to the protocol, if upgrading to OCPP 2.0.1 was not an option. Index Terms—Electric vehicle charging, cybersecurity, OCPP, cyberattack, cyber-resilience. INSPEC Accession Number: 23981565

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS2025

Provider of Services for Urban Air Mobility (PSU) Prototype Simulation (X5) Final Report

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a new air transportation service concept to carry passengers or cargo in metropolitan areas, leveraged by innovative aircraft and air traffic automation technologies. NASA has conducted a series of simulations, called the X-series simulation, to evaluate the UAM concept of operations and support the development of airspace procedures and services for UAM operations. The simulation called “X5” was conducted in 2023 to test a Provider of Services for UAM (PSU) prototype developed by NASA for UAM flight planning, strategic conflict management support, and data exchange between UAM operators. In this simulation, two strategic conflict management capabilities, Demand-Capacity Balancing and Sequencing and Scheduling, were further investigated. This document describes the UAM system architecture modeled, the X5 simulation environment to be executed (e.g., traffic scenario and UAM airspace construct), and the strategic conflict management processes developed and evaluated in this study. Then, the simulation results are provided using several system performance metrics, such as the number of operations planned and activated, demand-capacity imbalances detected and resolved, and pre-departure delays. Based on these metrics, the test findings and lessons learned from this simulation are discussed. NASA developed a PSU prototype as part of a reference implementation of UAM system architecture and evolved strategic conflict management capabilities for UAM operations from the previous collaborative simulations with industry partners. Below is the summary of the achievements: - Aligned NASA’s UAM reference architecture with the FAA’s UAM ConOps notional architecture - Extended UAM airspace management capabilities to include 1) Demand-Capacity Balancing (DCB) to ensure operators coordinate planned usage of shared vertiports, and 2) Sequencing and Scheduling (S&S) at UAM corridor entry and exit points to help facilitate an orderly flow of traffic - Defined the PSU information exchange APIs and requirements towards informing industry standards - Developed and tested a NASA PSU prototype as reference implementation to validate the requirements and APIs - Developed a prototype service connecting NASA’s PSU and the FAA system for testing future PSU-ATM interface requirements - Tested NASA-developed assumptions for UAM operations such as airspace design, procedures, vehicle performance, and strategic conflict management methods to inform future Cooperative Operating Practices (COPs) development with industry - Evaluated system performance metrics such as number of simultaneous operations and ground delays that can help define system-level requirements. The simulation results showed that the UAM traffic demand could be managed to minimize the needs of tactical separation provision with ground delays assigned by DCB and S&S. These accomplishments and the lessons learned from the PSU Prototype X5 simulation activities will be valuable inputs for the Air Mobility Pathfinders (AMP) project, which is NASA’s new project to create and evaluate a reference architecture for safe, secure, and scalable UAM operations.

Simulation↗
DOE OSTI2022

Platinum Group Metal Catalysts: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report focuses on the supply chain for catalysts, specifically platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts, used for decarbonizing energy technologies. Catalysts are substances that increase the rate, conversion, and selectivity of chemical reactions and are used in a variety of applications such as chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and catalytic converters. Catalysts containing PGMs (“PGM catalysts”) are particularly useful in widespread industrial applications, including the production of high-volume chemicals such as ammonia, acetic acid, nitric acid, and the refining of crude oil into petroleum products. The PGM metals possess extraordinary properties such as being active oxidation and hydrogenation catalysts; excellent electrical conductors and electrodes; and outstanding adsorbers of oxygen and hydrogen. Within the energy industrial base, PGM catalysts improve the energy and materials efficiency of petroleum refining and chemical industry processes and reduce energy consumption in manufacturing. In addition to their use in catalytic converters, PGM catalysts are important to maximizing the efficiency of emerging decarbonization technologies, specifically in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers for green hydrogen production from water and PEM fuel cells for transportation and stationary energy storage. Green hydrogen is expected to play a significant role in decarbonization scenarios.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advanced Reactor Cyber Analysis and Development Environment (ARCADE) for System-Level Design Analysis

Cybersecurity is a persistent concern to the safety and security of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), but has lacked data-driven, evidence-based research. Rigorous cybersecurity analysis is critical for the licensing of advanced reactors using a performance-based approach. One tool that enables cybersecurity analysis is modeling and simulation. The nuclear industry makes extensive use of modeling and simulation throughout the decision process but lacks a method to incorporate cybersecurity analysis with existing models. To meet this need, the Advanced Reactor Cyber Analysis and Development Environment (ARCADE) was developed. ARCADE is a suite of publicly available tools that can be used to develop emulations of industrial control system devices and networks and integrate those emulations with physics simulators. This integration of cyber emulations and physics models enables rigorous cyber-physical analysis of cyber-attacks on NPP systems. This report provides an overview of key considerations for using ARCADE with existing physics models and demonstrates ARCADE’s capabilities for cybersecurity analysis. Using a model of the Small Modular Advanced High Temperature Reactor (SmAHTR), ARCADE was able to determine the sensitivity of the primary heat exchangers (PHX) to coordinated cyber-attacks. The analysis determined that while the PHX’s failures cause disruption to the reactor, they did not cause any safety limits to be exceeded because of the plant design, including passive safety features. Further development of ARCADE will enable rigorous, repeatable, and automated cyber-physical analysis of advanced reactor control systems. These efforts will also help reduce regulatory uncertainty by presenting similar types of cybersecurity analyses in a common format, driving standard approaches and reporting.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Supramolecular Control of Redox-Mediated Interactions for Ion-Selective Electroseparations

This report summarizes efforts from the Su Group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in researching and developing materials and processes for the recovery of rare earth elements and other metal elements that are critical to the United States economy and national security, under DOE Award No. DE-SC0021409. This report highlights efforts in the recovery of: • Transition metal elements (including arsenic, chromium, molybdenum, rhenium, vanadium): Redox-active metallopolymers are able to capture these elements in their oxyanion form. Direct control of target ion capture/release through electrochemical-mediated switching of metallocene binding sites reduces chemical input and lowers generation of waste in element recovery processes. We study the effects of metallopolymer structure on targeted ion binding through a combination of experimental screening of ion selectivity from multi-component mixtures, computational efforts which elucidate the charge-transfer origins of metallocene binding and provide insight on how binding site structure influences selectivity, and state-of-the-art neutron reflectivity of metallocene polymer films to understand the interplay of polymer-ion (charge-transfer), polymer-solvent (polymer hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity), and ion-solvent (ion hydration) interactions with spatial resolution of polymer films. • Rare earth elements (including yttrium, neodymium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, cerium): Here we employ redox-copolymers for recovery of rare earth elements by electrochemically regenerated ion-exchange. Rare earth elements require an alternative route to capture/release than directly with metallopolymers since rare earth elements typically exist in cationic form in water. To address this, copolymerization of traditional ion-exchange moieties with metallocene moieties allowed for capture of rare earth elements with the ion-exchange moieties and electrochemical-mediated release of rare earth elements through oxidation of metallocene moieties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2016

Overview of the SMAP Applications and the SMAP Early Adopters Program - NASA's First Mission-Directed Outreach Effort

Satellite data provide global observations of many of the earths system processes and features. These data are valuable for developing scientific products that increase our understanding of how the earths systems are integrated. The water, energy and carbon cycle exchanges between the land and atmosphere are linked by soil moisture. NASAs Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission provides soil moisture and freeze thaw measurements from space and allows scientists to link the water energy and carbon cycles. In order for SMAP data to be best integrated into decision support systems, the mission has engaged with the stakeholder community since 2009 and has attempted to scale the utility of the data to the thematic societal impacts of the satellite product applications. The SMAP Mission, which launched on January 31, 2015, has actively grown an Early Adopter (EA) community as part of its applications effort and worked with these EAs to demonstrate a scaled thematic impact of SMAP data product in societally relevant decision support applications. The SMAP mission provides global observations of the Earths surface soil moisture, providing high accuracy, resolution and continuous global coverage. Through the Early Adopters Program, the SMAP Applications Team will spend the next 2 years after launch documenting and evaluating the use of SMAP science products in applications related to weather forecasting, drought, agriculture productivity, floods, human health and national security.

SMAP↗
DOE OSTI2021

Technology for the Recovery of Lithium from Geothermal Brines

Lithium is the principal component of high-energy-density batteries and is a critical material necessary for the economy and security of the United States. Brines from geothermal power production have been identified as a potential domestic source of lithium; however, lithium-rich geothermal brines are characterized by complex chemistry, high salinity, and high temperatures, which pose unique challenges for economic lithium extraction. The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyze direct lithium extraction technology in the context of developing sustainable lithium production from geothermal brines. In this paper, we are focused on the challenges of applying direct lithium extraction technology to geothermal brines; however, applications to other brines (such as coproduced brines from oil wells) are considered. The most technologically advanced approach for direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines is adsorption of lithium using inorganic sorbents. Other separation processes include extraction using solvents, sorption on organic resin and polymer materials, chemical precipitation, and membrane-dependent processes. The Salton Sea geothermal field in California has been identified as the most significant lithium brine resource in the US and past and present efforts to extract lithium and other minerals from Salton Sea brines were evaluated. Extraction of lithium with inorganic molecular sieve ion-exchange sorbents appears to offer the most immediate pathway for the development of economic lithium extraction and recovery from Salton Sea brines. Other promising technologies are still in early development, but may one day offer a second generation of methods for direct, selective lithium extraction. Initial studies have demonstrated that lithium extraction and recovery from geothermal brines are technically feasible, but challenges still remain in developing an economically and environmentally sustainable process at scale.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mark-18A Cold Runs

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is tasked by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to recover highly valued isotopes from irradiated Mark-18A (Mk-18A) targets. The Savannah River Site (SRS) has sixty-five Mk-18A targets available for the recovery of the high valued materials. The sixty-five Mk-18A targets are currently stored in the L-Area Basin and will be removed one at a time and individually transported to SRNL. Upon receipt at SRNL, the Mk-18A target material will be removed from the confinement, dissolved, chemically separated, and calcined to a stable oxide. The flowsheet is designed to recover the plutonium as well as the trivalent actinides. The remaining unrecovered material will be discarded to the high activity drain (HAD) system in SRNL. A specially designed cask was procured for transport of the targets from L-Area to SRNL. Once received at SRNL, the targets will be loaded into the back of Cell 7 and resized as they enter the cell. The resized targets (1/4 lengths) will then be processed one at a time through the following processes: caustic dissolution and filtration; acidic dissolution and filtration, Reillex anion exchange, diglycolamide (DGA) cation exchange; and DGA calcination. This processing will result in two product streams. The first is an aqueous plutonium solution which will be removed from the shielded cells and taken to a glovebox for further purification and conversion to an oxide. The second is a calcined oxide containing the Am and Cm as well as other lanthanide fission products which will be removed from the shielded cells using a bagless transfer system. Both materials will be packaged for shipment to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). All equipment to carry out this process was designed, procured or fabricated, and installed in a mock-up facility (716-4A) at SRS to allow for simulation testing in a non-radioactive area. This equipment was then dismantled and transferred from 716-4A to 773-A and installed in the SRNL Shielded Cells. After installation in the shielded cells facility testing was performed using water followed by surrogates and cold chemicals. Issues were identified during these evaluations, including equipment issues as well as technical challenges. Many of the issues were rectified during performance of the cold runs, and the remaining have a resolution identified. Table ES-1 provides a summary of all issues identified during the cold run operations, as well as the status and identified resolutions to outstanding issues.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Desktop Audits: Overview, Case Studies, Guidance

The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 requires that federal agencies audit 25% of their 3.1 billion square feet of covered facilities each year. Several newer, advanced options such as monitoring-based commissioning, fault detection and diagnostics, and energy management systems can help support data collection and analysis to be used for EISA compliance. The Federal Energy Management Program's (FEMP’s) Audit Decision Tree, Audit Definitions, and FEMP Guidance can be used by Agencies to determine the best approaches to evaluate their facilities. FEMP continues to develop additional resources to support agencies in meeting EISA compliance. This presentation gives an overview of desktop audits, including case studies and guidance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗