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Energy I-Corps is an initiative of the Department of Energy's Office of Technology Commercialization. The focus of this 2-month program is to train National Laboratory researchers in evaluating industry needs and potential market applications for their DOE technologies. This year's annual report details the accomplishments, activities, and finances of Energy I-Corps' 2025 fiscal year programming.
The Innovative Nuclear Materials (INM) Program was recently established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop advanced material technologies for use in nuclear reactors. The INM program is presently focused on researching in-core non-fueled materials for application in fast spectrum nuclear reactors. The widespread deployment of fast reactors continues to be a prominent aspiration for advanced nuclear technology developers. However, companies working to license these reactors have no choice but to rely on historic material technologies since further optimization and advancement of these materials is impeded by the lack of fast neutron irradiation test facilities. INM-OA is a non-fueled drop-in experiment which will irradiate material specimens of interest to fast reactor applications. This experiment will be irradiated at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) outboard-A (OA) position during normal and high temperature steady state (HTSS) cycles. It will include material specimens supplied by members of the INM program and will utilize a cadmium-lined basket to filter out incident thermal neutrons, thus simulating a faster neutron energy spectrum. Material specimens will undergo post-irradiation examination including microscopy and mechanical testing. In addition to absorption reactions, fast neutrons cause microstructural damage in materials by atom displacement, which can cause exacerbated changes in physical properties and behavior. Thus, the data obtained from the INM-OA experiment will be crucial for understanding the engineering-scale behavior of reactor materials. This document is intended for the Principal Investigators providing samples for this project. Topics included are a general description of the experiment, the irradiation experiment/capsule design, sample geometries, number of samples to be provided, documentation to be provided, a brief list potentially useful characterization methods that can be leveraged at INL, and other miscellaneous requirements specific to this project. This document is intended for informational use only.
Ultrasonic technologies offer the potential for high accuracy and resolution in-pile measurement of a range of parameters, including geometry changes, temperature, crack initiation and growth, gas pressure and composition, and microstructural changes. Many Department of Energy-Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) programs are exploring the use of ultrasonic technologies to provide enhanced sensors for in-pile instrumentation during irradiation testing. For example, the ability of small diameter ultrasonic thermometers (UTs) to provide a temperature profile in candidate metallic and oxide fuel would provide much needed data for validating new fuel performance models. These efforts are limited by the lack of identified ultrasonic transducer materials capable of long term performance under irradiation test conditions. To address this need, the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) was awarded an Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF) project to evaluate the performance of promising magnetostrictive and piezoelectric transducers in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR) up to a fast fluence of at least 1021 n/cm2 . A multi-National Laboratory collaboration funded by the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation (NEET ASI) program also provided initial support for this effort. This irradiation, which started in February 2014, is an instrumented lead test and real-time transducer performance data are collected along with temperature and neutron and gamma flux data. The irradiation is ongoing and will continue to approximately mid-2015. To date, very encouraging results have been attained as several transducers continue to operate under irradiation.
Accurate calibration of irradiance measurement devices, or radiometers, is essential for ensuring the reliability of measurements in high heat applications such as concentrating solar power (CSP), aerospace, defense, and pulsed power systems. Despite the critical need, existing calibration standards and service providers are limited to irradiance levels below 100 kW/m 2 and specific radiation sources, which is insufficient for many applications. For instance, CSP technologies, particularly those under the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Gen 3 program, require accurate measurements of broadband irradiance at levels exceeding 2000 kW/m 2 . In even more extreme scenarios, such as re-entry vehicles, heat levels can surpass 10000 kW/m 2 . Current ISO standards, specifically ISO 14934–2 and ISO 14934–3, are constrained to lower irradiance levels and dependent on black body heat sources, limiting their applicability for high-intensity broadband irradiance measurements, particularly in concentrated solar applications. Here, to address this shortfall, the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) proposes a calibration method and facility capable of characterizing radiometers up to 2750 kW/m 2 using concentrated solar irradiance. Calibrating with concentrated sunlight is important for solar applications as it aligns the calibration process with the solar spectrum. This alignment is crucial for minimizing systematic errors and avoiding the need for additional corrections that may arise when radiometers designed for solar applications are calibrated using black-body or electrical sources. This paper presents the present day NSTTF characterization facility and procedure, detailing the proposed calibration method and uncertainty quantification. The presented method builds upon 1980′s NSTTF methodology and involves both theoretical and empirical methods to establish a robust relationship between gauge voltage output and irradiance intensity, quantifying both measurement and fitting errors. By addressing the limitations of existing standards and extending the characterization range, this work provides an advancement in the field of high-intensity irradiance measurement and instrumentation characterization.
The volume of public geologic carbon storage (GCS) data resources has continued to increase in recent years as the result of an increase in funding from government, industry, and academia towards national, basin, regional and field scale studies to ensure carbon capture and storage becomes a commercially viable operation. Despite the increasing volume of data, GCS data applied towards analyses such as geologic, cost, and risk modeling continues to be multi-sourced and often disparate in nature, published across government agencies, websites, data repositories and buried in derivative reports and documents. Much of the time preparing for an analysis and derivative product development is spent collecting, aggregating, transforming and preparing input data. There have been significant efforts within the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Carbon Storage Program to optimize multi-source, multi-scale subsurface geologic data curation and aggregation to support data discovery, interoperability, and reuse. Methods include the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science techniques. This talk will discuss the workflows, best practices, and processes developed to support the aggregation and curation of data through the whole system – surface to subsurface data - that support multi-scale, multi-purpose analysis for carbon storage research.
This document summarizes the progress of VTO Analysis projects supported during the fiscal year 2023. The VTO Analysis Program supports mission-critical technological, economic, and interdisciplinary analyses to assist in prioritizing VTO technology investments and to inform research portfolio planning. These efforts provide essential vehicle and market data, modeling and simulation, and integrated and applied analyses, using the unique capabilities, analytical tools, and expertise resident in the DOE’s national laboratory system. VTO Analysis projects also demonstrate additional capabilities and expertise provided by research partnerships that may include academia, the private sector, and non-profit organizations.
In fiscal year 2021 (FY21), the Commercial Buildings Integration Program (CBI) within the Building Technologies Office (BTO), funded PNNL to conduct a field evaluation of the AIRCx and ILC using an Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform, VOLTTRON. The primary goal of the project is to show that software solutions deployed and delivered through an IoT-platform can identify energy efficiency opportunities and manage peak load (beyond the traditional demand response) in commercial buildings. There are also two secondary goals: 1) show that the energy efficiency solutions will result in identification of significant savings opportunities (10% to 30%) as well as energy cost reductions (10% to 15%) by managing the peak load in commercial buildings, and 2) show that an IoT-based software solution is more cost-effective compared to a manual process in meeting the Re-tuning/retro commissioning (RCx) mandates and there is a pathway for broader adoption of this approach. This report provides AIRCx and ILC results for two building located in District of Columbia managed by the energy service provider Intellimation.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Microreactor Program (MRP) is advancing key technologies to enable the deployment of truck-transportable, plug-and-play microreactors that operate at low power levels (< 20 MW th ), but at high temperatures (> 600 °C), while ensuring inherently safe reactor operation.
The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a global forum that promotes policies and programs that advance clean energy technology. The CEM's mission is to bring together a community of global leaders to scale clean energy, amplifying the impact to all the sectors of the economy and applying a whole-of-society approach to meet collective climate and clean energy goals. At COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the CEM announced the Supercharging Battery Storage Initiative as a vehicle to accelerate battery storage deployment around the world. The initiative supports countries around the world in co-creating strategies that enhance policy, regulation, supply chain, manufacturing, and financing solutions for battery energy storage deployment. Additionally, the initiative seeks to reduce the cost of the technology and promote diversified, sustainable, and secure supply chains (CEM n.d.). Through international collaboration, the initiative supports the integration of renewable energy globally, while securing the stability and reliability of the electricity grid.
This work develops data-driven models for onset of thermal barrier leakage in reactor coolant pumps. It incorporates uncertainty quantification to enhance the reliability and robustness of pre- dictions. Using synthetic data generated by the Generic Pressurized Water Reactor simulator, realistic degradation scenarios were simulated across lifecycle stages—beginning, middle, and end of life. Key variables, including differential pressure, flow rate, vibration, and temperatures, were analyzed using machine learning framework. The fully connected neural network models demonstrated exceptional performance, achieving R2 scores exceeding 0.99 and root mean square errors as low as around 8.23 × 10-2 gallon per minute (gpm) for the three stages of the lifecy- cle. UQ analysis further validated the model’s robustness, with narrow uncertainty bounds during steady-state operations and appropriately wider bounds during transitional phases, reflecting the physical behavior of the system. This work addresses important gaps in real-time condition moni- toring and regulatory compliance by integrating advanced condition monitoring technologies with UQ into IST programs. The ability to detect thermal barrier leakage early and quantify prediction reliability supports optimizing maintenance strategies while ensuring nuclear power plants’ safe and reliable operation.
This presentation summarizes the work occurring in the Advanced Reactor Technologies - Gas-Cooled Reactor Program. It is part of the 2025 ART-GCR annual program review.
This research program established the scientific foundation for the rational, bottom-up design, synthesis, isolation, and investigation of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) electron spin qubits embedded in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). The work focused on integrating atomically precise low-dimensional carbon nanostructures with emerging quantum logic architectures, providing a pathway toward scalable quantum materials for next-generation computing and sensing technologies. A central component of the program was the elucidation of fundamental relationships between real-space molecular architecture, local spin density distributions, electronic band dispersion, and energy level alignment in atomically precise GNR systems. These correlations define key operational parameters of SPT qubits and were systematically investigated to establish quantitative benchmarks against established molecular and solid-state spin qubit platforms. Attention was given to properties critical for quantum device performance, e.g. decoherence times, spectral sharpness of energy transitions, and tunable exchange interactions between spin states. The research demonstrated that these parameters can be engineered with atomic precision through scalable bottom-up synthetic strategies. Theory-guided design played a central role in identifying candidate structures hosting topologically protected spin states. Experimental validation was performed using both ensemble measurements and single-molecule characterization. In addition to advances in quantum materials synthesis, the program developed and applied spin-sensitive scanning probe microscopy techniques capable of directly probing quantum states and dynamic processes with atomic-scale spatial resolution. These capabilities enabled direct observation and characterization of quantum structures at the single-atom level. While the research activities were primarily hypothesis-driven fundamental investigations, the program adopted a comprehensive materials-by-design framework aimed at translating scientific discoveries into technological concepts compatible with scalable and intelligent manufacturing approaches.
This project, “Ecosystem Services and Farm Entrepreneurship Technical Assistance,” was a three-year project originally planned for FY22–FY24. Due to a late start and a few extensions, it is being completed in early FY25. This project explored opportunities to support the deployment of a bioeconomy with a circular, more sustainable supply chain. Using a tool developed by Argonne to identify agricultural areas suitable for use in the bioeconomy, we sought to create opportunities in the bioeconomy as biomass producers, bioenergy users, and environmental entrepreneurs. We proposed to focus at the beginning on enhancing the tool’s capabilities, while engaging with key stakeholders to improve and expand the tool’s functionality for all potential stakeholders in the bioeconomy. We believe that expanding our tools and technologies, coupled with conversations in agricultural spaces, will be needed as we continue to explore how best to offer farmers whole-of supply-chain opportunities to participate in the bioeconomy. Through this project we have continued to gain a better understanding of the ways in which farmers, landowners, bioenergy users, and environmental entrepreneurs may approach the bioeconomy. In addition, as we improve our analytic toolkit, we can continue to refine our communication and the ways in which we can valuate the bioeconomy. Refining these tools allows us to dive deeper into conversations around plausible policies and drivers for future bioeconomy investment and engagement by stakeholders. By working with farmers and agricultural landowners to enable a sustainable bioeconomy business model, enhance their energy options, and recover resources from their waste streams, this project directly responds to the Bioenergy Technology Office’s (BETO) priorities of building a resilient energy economy. It addresses BETO’s focus on fostering the development and adoption of energy technologies that enable the conversion of waste to energy, efficient land use, and robust job creation. By establishing a technical assistance program that develops capabilities and practices in agricultural areas to implement a bioeconomy future, this program will develop an important linkage between technology being developed at U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories and the agricultural communities of the Midwest. This project focuses on farmers with lower productivity farmland. Because less productive lands create a more difficult revenue stream for conventional crops, these farmers may therefore be more open to alternative agricultural land management regimes. Consequently, the technical assistance program and the methodologies for targeting perennial bioenergy crop application on marginal land provide a distinct opportunity to engage with and invest in the bioeconomy in these economically stressed areas. Stakeholders in this project include farmers and landowners, local conservation organizations (NRCS, SWCS, etc.), universities, non-profit environmental and agricultural entities, farm consultants, environmental regulators, and industry, including the industries working on conversion technologies, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and biochar generation, and the companies interested in trading or purchasing/supporting the valuation of ecosystem services (ES).
R&D efforts in support of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Isotope Program Radioisotope Portfolio are led by the Radioisotope Science and Technology Division (RSTD). In addition to supporting the ORNL Isotope Program Radioisotope Portfolio, RSTD supports a portfolio of research related to fundamental properties of radioisotopes and radioisotope applications, including diagnostic and therapeutic uses of medical radioisotopes, radioisotopes for national security, and the production of 238 Pu for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy. RSTD is organized into functional science and engineering groups, with most staff members supporting multiple programs. The goal of this organization is to enable synergy between programs such that R&D advances coming from other programs may provide benefit to the ORNL Isotope Program. R&D within RSTD is focused around addressing five grand challenges, as documented in the strategic plan for the DOE Office of Isotope R&D and Production, or DOE Isotope Program (IP), Radioisotope Production R&D activities at ORNL: 1. Maximizing the scientific output of radioisotope transmutation resources, 2. Maximizing the scientific output of radioisotope processing resources, 3. Minimizing waste and having optimal waste disposition, 4. Focusing on product quality and reliability, and 5. Expanding the use of beneficial isotopes. The ORNL Core R&D program, one of the primary R&D components within the ORNL Isotope Program Radioisotope Portfolio, ranges from benchtop to demonstration activities, with a focus on researching enhanced production techniques, developing emerging isotopes, and developing the talent pipeline for radioisotope science and technology. Projects within the Core R&D Program are led primarily by RSTD staff members. In supporting enhanced production techniques, the Core R&D program presents an opportunity to fund novel R&D that might not be tied to a specific radioisotope product but still presents a high potential for broad applicability in the longer term. In supporting the development of emerging isotopes, the Core R&D program develops high-priority isotopes that are not able to be fully supported through production funds.
Plastic packaging plays a fundamental role in the food industry, avoiding food waste and facilitating food access. The increasing plastic production and the lack of appropriate plastic waste management technologies represent a threat to the environmental and human welfare. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify sustainable packaging solutions. Circular economy (CE) promotes reducing waste and increasing recycling practices to achieve sustainability. In this work, we propose a CE framework based on multi-objective optimization, considering both economic and environmental impacts, to identify optimal packaging designs and waste management technologies. Using mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), techno-economic analysis (TEA), and life cycle assessment (LCA), this work aims to build the first steps in packaging design, informing about the best packaging alternatives and the optimal technology or technologies to process packaging waste. For the economic analysis, we consider the minimum increase in price (MIP) when adding recycling to the cost of each packaging solution, while for the environmental analysis, the greenhouse gas emissions impact was considered. A case study on ground coffee packaging is used to illustrate the proposed framework. The results demonstrate that the multilayer bag option is the most convenient when considering both the chosen economic and environmental impacts.
The Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) is the high-performance network user facility for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) and delivers highly reliable data transport capabilities optimized for the requirements of data-intensive science. In essence, ESnet is the circulatory system that enables the DOE science mission by connecting all its laboratories and facilities in the US and abroad. ESnet is funded and stewarded by the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program and managed and operated by the Scientific Networking Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). ESnet is widely regarded as a global leader in the research and education networking community. ESnet interconnects DOE national laboratories, user facilities, and major experiments so that scientists can use remote instruments and computing resources as well as share data with collaborators, transfer large datasets, and access distributed data repositories. ESnet is specifically built to provide Between July 2023 and October 2023, ESnet and the Nuclear Physics program (NP) of the DOE SC organized an ESnet requirements review of NP-supported activities. Preparation for these events included identification of key stakeholders: program and facility management, research groups, and technology providers. Each stakeholder group was asked to prepare formal case study documents about its relationship to the NP program to build a complete understanding of the current, near-term, and long-term status, expectations, and processes that will support the science going forward.
The materials science challenge of providing a suite of suitable materials to satisfy the technology to achieve fusion energy is addressed in this ORNL program. The inability of currently available materials and components to withstand the harsh fusion nuclear environment requires development of new materials, and an understanding of their response to the fusion environment. The overarching goal of the ORNL Fusion Materials program is to provide the applied materials science support and materials understanding to underpin the ongoing DOE Office of Science—Fusion Energy Sciences program, in parallel with developing the materials for fusion power systems. In this effort the program continues to be integrated both with the larger U.S. and international fusion materials communities and with the U.S. and international fusion design and technology communities. The excitement of this program comes from the priorities given to this subject in the two recent fusion reviews, by the FESAC and NAS committees. An important element of those recommendations is the support for pivoting the national R&D emphasis to the Fusion Materials and Technologies (FM&T), the long-advocated Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source, and for the Fusion Pilot Plant study that will help focus program direction and efforts. Furthermore, the surge of venture capital investment into the private fusion industry start-ups over the last few years is anticipated to help accelerate all aspects of the fusion energy development. This twelfth annual report of the ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Fusion Reactor Materials Program summarizes the accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023). The year was the first to return to full post-COVID-restriction operations, with students and international assignees no longer impacted by COVID restrictions, as in FY20-21-22. Following the pattern of planning used in this program, work for the year FY2023 focused on having the data and productivity to support a strong presence at the International Conference on Fusion Reactor Materials (ICFRM) 21, organized by Spain and occurred in October 2023. Twenty-nine ORNL-led abstracts were submitted, with all accepted. Four were invited presentations, nine contributed oral, fourteen posters, and two withdrawn due to unforeseen circumstances. Additionally, nine external abstracts with ORNL contributing authors were presented. These will be reported in the FY24 report next year.
For the past several years, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have provided technical assistance to the recipients of Department of Energy (DOE) -funded voucher programs, namely American-Made Challenges (AMC), the Incubator Program, and the Small Business Vouchers Program. Drawing on lessons learned and from first-hand experiences, NREL is leading a new holistic and streamlined voucher program aimed at strengthening ties between American innovators and the national labs. This new program, “Vouchers to Enable Laboratory and Organizational Collaboration for Innovation and Technology Improvements,” or VELOCITI, will leverage the successful elements of past programs, create administrative efficiencies, and enable the buildout of a national program to drive strong relationships between entrepreneurs and the national labs to accelerate the roll-out of new technologies in the US solar sector. This work will evaluate Hawaii Fish Company’s (HFC’s) floating renewable energy-powered aeration systems, designed primarily for aquaculture ponds, with crossover applications to farm ponds, reservoirs, and other water bodies. Notably, HFC’s systems include a variety of configurations, such as direct-solar systems, battery-storage systems, and systems with a secondary wind turbine option. HFC is planning to refine and commercialize their renewable energy aeration platforms. Presently, HFC is fabricating multiple configurations of the systems for deployment in multiple locations in the U.S. PNNL will apply technical expertise to assist in these goals, benefitting the industry partner by giving them an understanding of the performance of their systems. The technical objectives of this project are to understand system performance and reliability, determine a path toward certification, and model the performance of the systems in different locations.