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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Fifth Status Report: Testing of Aged Softwood Fiberboard Material for the 9975 Shipping Package

Samples have been prepared from a 9975 lower fiberboard subassembly fabricated from softwood fiberboard. Physical, mechanical and thermal properties have been measured following varying periods of conditioning in each of several environments. These tests have been conducted in the same manner as previous testing on cane fiberboard samples. Overall, similar aging trends are observed for softwood and cane fiberboard samples, with a few differences. Some softwood fiberboard properties tend to degrade faster in elevated humidity environments, while some cane fiberboard properties degrade faster in the hotter dry environments. As a result, it is premature to assume both materials will age at the same rates, and the preliminary aging models developed for cane fiberboard might not apply to softwood fiberboard. However, it is expected that both cane and softwood fiberboard assemblies will perform satisfactorily in conforming packages stored in a typical KAC storage environment for up to 15 years. Aging and testing of softwood fiberboard will continue and additional data will be collected. Additional samples will be added to each aging environment, to support development of an aging model specific to softwood fiberboard. Post-conditioning data have been measured on samples from a single softwood fiberboard assembly, and baseline data are also available from a limited number of vendor-provided samples. This provides minimal information on the possible sample-to-sample variation exhibited by softwood fiberboard. Data to date are generally consistent with the range seen in cane fiberboard, but some portions of the data trends are skewed toward the lower end of that range. Two additional softwood fiberboard source packages have been obtained and will begin to provide data on the range of variability of this material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Status Report of a High Luminosity Muon Collider and Future Research and Development Plans

Muon Colliders have unique technical and physics advantages and disadvantages when compared with both hadron and electron machines. They should thus be regarded as complementary. Parameters are given of 4 TeV and 0.5 TeV (c-of-m) high luminosity µ + µ − colliders, and of a 0.5 TeV lower luminosity demonstration machine. We discuss the various systems in such muon colliders, starting from the proton accelerator needed to generate the muons and proceeding through muon cooling, acceleration and storage in a collider ring. Detector background, polarization, and nonstandard operating conditions are analyzed. Finally, we present an R & D plan to determine whether such machines are practical, and, if they are, lead to the construction of a 0.5 TeV demonstration by 2010, and to a 4 TeV collider by the year 2020.

Palmer, Robert B.↗
DOE OSTI2014

FY 2014 Status Report: of Vibration Testing of Clad Fuel (M4FT-14OR0805033)

The DOE Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) tasked Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to investigate the behavior of light-water-reactor (LWR) fuel cladding material performance related to extended storage and transportation of UNF. ORNL has been tasked to perform a systematic study on UNF integrity under simulated normal conditions of transportation (NCT) by using the recently developed hot-cell testing equipment, Cyclic Integrated Reversible-Bending Fatigue Tester (CIRFT). To support the testing on actual high-burnup UNF, fast-neutron irradiation of pre-hydrided zirconium-alloy cladding in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at elevated temperatures will be used to simulate the effects of high-burnup on fuel cladding for help in understanding the cladding materials properties relevant to extended storage and subsequent transportation. The irradiated pre-hydrided metallic materials testing will generate baseline data to benchmark hot-cell testing of the actual high-burnup UNF cladding. More importantly, the HFIR-irradiated samples will be free of alpha contamination and can be provided to researchers who do not have hot cell facilities to handle highly contaminated high-burnup UNF cladding to support their research projects for the UFDC.t

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2013

KJRR-FAI Status Report of Conceptual Design Activities

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has initiated the Ki-Jang Research Reactor (KJRR) project to construct a new dedicated radio-isotope production facility in the KiJang province of South Korea. The KJRR will employ a uranium-molybdenum dispersion plate-type fuel clad in aluminum. The KJRR fuel assembly design will undergo irradiation in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) as part of the regulatory qualification of the fuel. The Idaho National Laboratory performed a multi-disciplined conceptual design effort and found that one full-size KJRR fuel assembly can be irradiated in the ATR’s north east flux trap. The analyses accomplished during the conceptual design phase are sufficient to prove viability of the overall design and irradiation campaign. Requirements for fission power can be met. The desired burnup can be achieved well within 15% depending on reactor operating availability. Mechanical design and structural analysis show that structural integrity of the irradiation test is maintained. It is recommended that future detailed design efforts be based on the concept described in this report.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

NINTH INTERIM STATUS REPORT: MODEL 9975 PCV O-RING FIXTURE LONG-TERM LEAK PERFORMANCE

A series of experiments to monitor the aging performance of Viton® GLT O-rings used in the Model 9975 package has been ongoing since 2004 at the Savannah River National Laboratory. One approach has been to periodically evaluate the leak performance of O-rings being aged in mock-up 9975 Primary Containment Vessels (PCVs) at elevated temperatures. Other methods such as compression-stress relaxation (CSR) tests and field surveillance are also on-going to evaluate O-ring behavior. Seventy tests using PCV mock-ups were assembled and heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 450 ºF. They were leak-tested initially and have been tested periodically to determine if they continue to meet the leak-tightness criterion defined in ANSI standard N14.5-97. Due to material substitution, fourteen additional tests were initiated in 2008 with GLT-S O-rings heated to temperatures ranging from 200 to 400 ºF. High temperature aging continues for 23 GLT O-ring fixtures at 200 – 270 ºF. Room temperature leak test failures have been experienced in all of the GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 350 ºF and higher temperatures, and in 8 fixtures aging at 300 ºF. The earliest 300 °F GLT O-ring fixture failure was observed at 34 months. The remaining GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 300 ºF have been retired from testing following more than 5 years at temperature without failure. No failures have yet been observed in GLT O-ring fixtures aging at 200 ºF for 72 - 96 months, which bounds O-ring temperatures anticipated during storage in K-Area Complex (KAC). Based on expectations that the 200 ºF fixtures will remain leak-tight for a significant period yet to come, 2 additional fixtures began aging in 2011 at 270 ºF, with hopes that they may reach a failure condition before the 200 ºF fixtures, thus providing additional time to failure data. High temperature aging continues for 6 GLT-S O-ring fixtures at 200 – 300 ºF. Room temperature leak test failures have been experienced in all 8 of the GLT-S O-ring fixtures aging at 350 and 400 ºF. No failures have yet been observed in GLT-S O-ring fixtures aging at 200 - 300 ºF for 54 - 57 months. No additional O-ring failures have been observed since the last interim report was issued. Aging and periodic leak testing will continue for the remaining PCV fixtures. Additional irradiation of several fixtures is recommended to maintain a balance between thermal and radiation exposures similar to that experienced in storage, and to show the degree of consistency of radiation response between GLT and GLT-S O-rings.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

FY14 Status Report: CIRFT Testing Results on High Burnup UNF

The objective of this project is to perform a systematic study of SNF/UNF (spent nuclear fuel/or used nuclear fuel) integrity under simulated transportation environments by using hot cell testing technology developed recently at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), CIRFT (Cyclic Integrated Reversible-Bending Fatigue Tester). Under Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sponsorship, ORNL completed four benchmarking tests, four static tests, and twelve dynamic or cycle tests on H. B. Robinson (HBR) high burn-up (HBU) fuel. With support from the US Department of Energy and the NRC, CIRFT testing has been continued. The CIRFT testing was conducted on three HBR rods (R3, R4, and R5), with two specimens failed and one specimen un-failed. The total number of cycles in the test of un-failed specimens went over 2.23 107; the test was stopped as because the specimen did not show any sign of failure. The data analysis on all the HBR SNF rods demonstrated that it is necessary to characterize the fatigue life of used fuel rods in terms of both the curvature amplitude and the maximum of absolute of curvature extremes. The latter is significant because the maxima of extremes signify the maximum of tensile stress of the outer fiber of the bending rod. So far, a large variety of hydrogen contents has been covered in the CIRFT testing on HBR rods. It has been shown that the load amplitude is the dominant factor that controls the lifetime of bending rods, but the hydrogen content also has an important effect on the lifetime attained, according to the load range tested.

fuel vibration integrity↗
DOE OSTI2014

Status Report on Efforts to Enhance Instrumentation to Support Advanced Test Reactor Irradiations

The Department of Energy (DOE) designated the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) as a National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) in April 2007 to support the growth of nuclear science and technology in the United States (US). By attracting new research users - universities, laboratories, and industry - the ATR NSUF facilitates basic and applied nuclear research and development, further advancing the nation's energy security needs. A key component of the ATR NSUF effort at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is to design, develop, and deploy new in-pile instrumentation techniques that are capable of providing real-time measurements of key parameters during irradiation. To address this need, an assessment of instrumentation available and under-development at other test reactors was completed. Based on this initial review, recommendations were made with respect to what instrumentation is needed at the ATR, and a strategy was developed for obtaining these sensors. In 2009, a report was issued documenting this program’s strategy and initial progress toward accomplishing program objectives. Since 2009, annual reports have been issued to provide updates on the program strategy and the progress made on implementing the strategy. This report provides an update reflecting progress as of January 2014.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Status report on assessment of environmentally assisted fatigue for LWR extended service conditions

This report provides an update on an earlier assessment of environmentally assisted fatigue for light water reactor (LWR) materials under extended service conditions. This report is a deliverable in September 2013, under the work package for environmentally assisted fatigue in the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program. The overall objective of this LWRS project is to assess the degradation by environmentally assisted cracking/fatigue of LWR materials, such as various alloy base metals and their welds used in reactor coolant system piping. This effort is to support the U.S. Department of Energy LWRS program for developing tools to predict the aging/failure mechanism and to correspondingly predict the remaining life of LWR components for anticipated 60-80 year operation.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Sixth Status Report: Testing of Aged Softwood Fiberboard Material for the 9975 Shipping Package

Samples have been prepared from several 9975 lower fiberboard subassemblies fabricated from softwood fiberboard. Physical, mechanical and thermal properties have been measured following varying periods of conditioning in each of several environments. These tests have been conducted in the same manner as previous testing on cane fiberboard samples. Overall, similar aging trends are observed for softwood and cane fiberboard samples, with a few differences. Some softwood fiberboard properties tend to degrade faster in some environments, while some cane fiberboard properties degrade faster in the two most aggressive environments. As a result, it is premature to assume both materials will age at the same rates, and the preliminary aging models developed for cane fiberboard might not apply to softwood fiberboard. However, it is expected that both cane and softwood fiberboard assemblies will perform satisfactorily in conforming packages stored in a typical KAC storage environment for up to 15 years. Samples from an additional 3 softwood fiberboard assemblies have begun aging during the past year to provide information on the variability of softwood fiberboard behavior. Aging and testing of softwood fiberboard will continue and additional data will be collected to support development of an aging model specific to softwood fiberboard.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

2015 DOE Special Status Report

Final Summary Report for the 2015 Aspen Winter Conference on "Unifying Concepts in Glass Physics"

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

2015 DOE Special Status Report

This is the final Summary Report for the 2015 Aspen Winter Conference on "Progress and Applications on Modern Quantum Field Theory".

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Advanced Small Modular Reactor Economics Status Report

This report describes the data collection work performed for an advanced small modular reactor (AdvSMR) economics analysis activity at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The methodology development and analytical results are described in separate, stand-alone documents as listed in the references. The economics analysis effort for the AdvSMR program combines the technical and fuel cycle aspects of advanced (non-light water reactor [LWR]) reactors with the market and production aspects of SMRs. This requires the collection, analysis, and synthesis of multiple unrelated and potentially high-uncertainty data sets from a wide range of data sources. Further, the nature of both economic and nuclear technology analysis requires at least a minor attempt at prediction and prognostication, and the far-term horizon for deployment of advanced nuclear systems introduces more uncertainty. Energy market uncertainty, especially the electricity market, is the result of the integration of commodity prices, demand fluctuation, and generation competition, as easily seen in deregulated markets. Depending on current or projected values for any of these factors, the economic attractiveness of any power plant construction project can change yearly or quarterly. For long-lead construction projects such as nuclear power plants, this uncertainty generates an implied and inherent risk for potential nuclear power plant owners and operators. The uncertainty in nuclear reactor and fuel cycle costs is in some respects better understood and quantified than the energy market uncertainty. The LWR-based fuel cycle has a long commercial history to use as its basis for cost estimation, and the current activities in LWR construction provide a reliable baseline for estimates for similar efforts. However, for advanced systems, the estimates and their associated uncertainties are based on forward-looking assumptions for performance after the system has been built and has achieved commercial operation. Advanced fuel materials and fabrication costs have large uncertainties based on complexities of operation, such as contact-handled fuel fabrication versus remote handling, or commodity availability. Thus, this analytical work makes a good faith effort to quantify uncertainties and provide qualifiers, caveats, and explanations for the sources of these uncertainties. The overall result is that this work assembles the necessary information and establishes the foundation for future analyses using more precise data as nuclear technology advances.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

CIRFT Testing of Used Nuclear Fuel Rods from the Limerick Generating Station Boiling Water Reactor (FY15 Status Report)

The objective of this project is to perform a systematic study of spent nuclear fuel (SNF, also known as “used nuclear fuel” [UNF]) integrity under simulated transportation environments using the Cyclic Integrated Reversible-Bending Fatigue Tester (CIRFT) hot-cell testing technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in August 2013. Under Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sponsorship, ORNL completed four benchmark tests, four static tests, and twelve dynamic or cycle tests on H. B. Robinson (HBR) high burn-up (HBU) fuel. The clad of the HBR fuels was made of Zircaloy-4. Testing was continued in fiscal year (FY) 2014 using Department of Energy (DOE) funds. Additional CIRFT testing was conducted on three HBR rods; two specimens failed, and one specimen was tested to over 2.23 × 10 7 cycles without failing. The data analysis on all the HBR SNF rods demonstrated that it is necessary to characterize the fatigue life of the SNF rods in terms of (1) the curvature amplitude and (2) the maximum absolute of curvature extremes. The maximum extremes are significant because they signify the maximum tensile stress for the outer fiber of the bending rod. CIRFT testing has also addressed a large variation in hydrogen content on the HBR rods. While the load amplitude is the dominant factor that controls the fatigue life of bending rods, the hydrogen content also has an important effect on the lifetime attained at each load range tested. In FY 15, eleven SNF rod segments from the Limerick BWR were tested using the ORNL CIRFT equipment; one test under static conditions and ten tests under dynamic loading conditions. Under static unidirectional loading, a moment of 85 N·m was obtained at a maximum curvature of 4.0 m -1 . The specimen did not show any sign of failure during three repeated loading cycles to a similar maximum curvature. Ten cyclic tests were conducted with amplitudes varying from 15.2 to 7.1 N·m. Failure was observed in nine of the tested rod specimens. The cycles-to-failure ranged from 1.22 × 10 5 to 4.70 × 10 6 , and the amplitudes varied from 15.2 to 7.6 N·m. The measurements at the interrupts indicated a range of flexural rigidity from 30 to 50 N·m 2 . Online monitoring revealed that the flexural rigidity was slightly lower due to the higher loading, from 25 to 42 N·m 2 . Generally, no substantial change of rigidity was observed based on the online monitoring during the cyclic fatigue testing process. Overall, the decreasing trend of sample lifetime with increasing amplitude is well defined.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗