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A User Guide to PARET/ANL

PARET was originally created in 1969 at what is now Idaho National Laboratory (INL), to analyze reactivity insertion events in research and test reactor cores cooled by light or heavy water, with fuel composed of either plates or pins. The use of PARET is also appropriate for fuel assemblies with curved fuel plates when their radii of curvatures are large with respect to the fuel plate thickness. The PARET/ANL version of the code has been developed at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy/NNSA since the inception of the Reactor Conversion Program. Since Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) began in 1978, PARET/ANL has been benchmarked to experimental data including SPERT testing, and used to determine the expected transient behavior of a large number of reactors regardless of enrichment both inside and outside the Reactor Conversion Program. This document provides the pertinent information for the use of PARET/ANL Version 7.6. PARET/ANL models the various fueled regions of a reactor core as channels. Each of these channels consists of a single flat fuel plate/pin (including cladding and, optionally, a gap) with water coolant on each side. In slab geometry the coolant channels for a given fuel plate are of identical dimensions (mirror symmetry), but they can be of different thickness in each channel. There can be many channels, but each channel is independent and coupled only through reactivity feedback effects to the whole core. The time-dependent differential equations that represent the system are replaced by an equivalent set of finite-difference equations in space and time, which are integrated numerically. PARET/ANL uses fundamentally the same numerical scheme as RELAP5 for the time-integration of the point-kinetics equations. The one-dimensional thermal-hydraulic model includes temperature-dependent thermal properties of the solid materials, such as heat capacity and thermal conductivity, as well as the transient heat production and heat transfer from the fuel meat to the coolant. Temperature- and pressure-dependent thermal properties of the coolant such as enthalpy, density, thermal conductivity, and viscosity are also used in determining parameters such as friction factors and heat transfer coefficients. The code first determines the steady-state solution for the initial state. Then the solution of the transient is obtained by integration in time and space. Multiple heat transfer, DNB and flow instability correlations are available. The code was originally developed to model reactors cooled by an open loop, which was adequate for rapid transients in pool-type cores. An external loop model appropriate for Miniature Neutron Source Reactors (MNSR’s) was also added to PARET/ANL to model natural circulation within the vessel, heat transfer from the vessel to pool and heat loss by evaporation from the pool. PARET/ANL also contains models for decay heat after shutdown, control rod reactivity versus time or position, time-dependent pump flow, and loss-of-flow event with flow reversal as well as logic for trips on period, power, and flow. Feedback reactivity effects from coolant density changes and temperature changes are represented by tables. Feedback reactivity from fuel heat-up (Doppler Effect) is represented by a four-term polynomial in powers of fuel temperature. Photo-neutrons produced in beryllium or in heavy water may be included in the point-kinetics equations by using additional delayed neutron groups.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Modeling and Simulation of Xe-100-type Pebble Bed Gas-Cooled Reactor with SCALE

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) to accelerate the deployment of advanced reactor concepts. Awardees of ARDP funds are expected to demonstrate the operation of an advanced reactor within 7 years of receiving the award. X-Energy’s advanced reactor concept, the Xe-100, was selected as one of two advanced reactor concepts to receive funding to demonstrate the operation of its high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor before the end of this decade. As a result of this push to bring advanced reactors to maturation and commercialization, transition and deployment scenario studies are being performed under the Systems Analysis and Integration (SA&I) campaign within the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) to evaluate the transition of the current US commercial fleet of light-water reactors (LWRs) to a future fleet of advanced reactors consisting of a mix of ARDP type reactor concepts and advanced LWRs. To accurately evaluate the front- and back-end resource requirements, it is important to perform reactor physics calculations to determine the discharge burnup and isotopic content, fuel residence time, as well as other parameters. For this purpose, a summer project funded by the SA&I campaign allowed for the setup of SCALE models for full-core Xe-100 type high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor and a Xe-100 type slice using publicly available information. The core-averaged equilibrium compositions and zone-wise equilibrium compositions for the slice and 3D models, respectively, were obtained following an iterative depletion method developed by Bostelmann et al. using SCALE’s reactor physics sequence TRITON. The slice model was used with TRITON to generate burnup-dependent cross section libraries at different temperatures which can be used with SCALE’s ORIGAMI code to rapidly determine fuel inventory and therefore to perform quick sensitivity studies on parameters such as the pebble location in the core. The SCALE/TRITON transport and depletion calculation for the Xe-100 type slice model indicates that the isotopic concentrations are in good agreement at 1,300 effective full power days (EFPD) for 235 U. An analysis of 236 U results match 239 Pu results would seem to indicate a typographical error in Mulder and Boyes wherein the reported results of 236 U and 239 Pu are reversed. In addition to SCALE/TRITON calculations, a new capability within SCALE/ORIGAMI for the simulation of pebble-bed reactors was used to study the burnup sensitivity with respect to the pebble pathway through the core. The SCALE/ORIGAMI results show that pebbles that travel closer to the reflector for the entire depletion history have a higher burnup than pebbles that travel through the middle of the core because of the higher thermal to fast flux ratio near the reflector. Consequently, a pebble’s burnup is strongly affected by the pebble’s pathway for each pass. Additional phenomena such as temperature distributions in the core and different travel times of the pebbles in the individual radial zones further affect the burnup distribution. The sensitivity of the discharge vector to the pebble pathways taken during each pass can be evaluated in the future using SCALE/ORIGAMI now that the SCALE inputs have been established.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Reverse-mode differentiation in arbitrary tensor network format: with application to supervised learning.

This paper describes an efficient reverse-mode differentiation algorithm for contraction operations of tensor networks that may have arbitrary and unconventional network topologies. The approach leverages the tensor contraction tree of Evenbly and Pfeifer (2014), which provides an instruction set for the contraction sequence of a network. We show that this tree can be efficiently leveraged for differentiation of a full tensor network contraction using a recursive scheme that exploits (1) the bilinear property of contraction and (2) the property that trees have single path from root to leaves. While differentiation of tensor-tensor contraction is already possible in most automatic differentiation packages, we show that exploiting these two additional properties in the specific context of contraction sequences can improve efficiency. Following a description of the algorithm and computational complexity analysis, we investigate its utility for gradient-based supervised learning for low-rank function recovery and for fitting real-world unstructured datasets. We demonstrate improved performance over alternating least-squares optimization approaches and the capability to handle heterogeneous and arbitrary tensor network formats. When compared to alternating minimization algorithms, we find that the gradient-based approach requires a smaller oversampling ratio (number of samples compared to number model parameters) for recovery. This increased efficiency extends to fitting unstructured data of varying dimensionality and when employing a variety of tensor network formats. Here, we show improved learning using the hierarchical Tucker method over the tensor-train in high-dimensional settings on a number of benchmark problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Preliminary Design of Nuclear Reactor Heat Delivery Systems: Integration with Reference Oil Refinery, Methanol Synthesis, and Hydrogen Production

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program is generating comprehensive analyses validating the opportunity for using nuclear energy in a variety of applications including future clean grids, providing heat for direct use, and providing heat to help reduce emissions in chemical commodities. This work focuses on the preliminary designs of thermal delivery systems that can integrate heat produced from a nuclear core to industrial processes. The key research question that needs to be answered is: what is the prospective method for integrating nuclear generated heat energy into non-electric applications that can facilitate combined heat and power operations by advanced nuclear reactor systems? This research is a composition of case studies showing preliminary conceptual designs for thermal delivery systems integrating advanced nuclear systems with a few industrial systems including high temperature steam electrolysis, a reference oil refinery, and potential future methanol systems that supplant some natural gas use with nuclear energy. Piping and instrumentation diagrams have been developed to show the conceptual integration of nuclear systems with representative industrial systems. Different features of the configurations are dependent on the specific integration requirements including energy source conditions, demand quantity, and require energy application conditions. Design concepts are validated using thermodynamic balance calculations to verify system performance including calculating system losses during transport. Key components: pumps and compressors, heat exchangers, and network piping are reported with key design information and sizing.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Advancing Fusion Research and Development at TAE Technologies Through INFUSE Program

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program serves as a crucial catalyst by fostering public-private partnership that accelerates technological innovation for fusion energy research and development (R&D) in the private sector. Further, this article provides a comprehensive overview of the technical goals and accomplishments of projects awarded to TAE Technologies through the INFUSE program since 2019. We offer high-level perspectives on how these projects have contributed to fusion energy R&D, and we address key challenges encountered during these collaborations.

field-reversed configuration↗

Integrated protonic ceramic electrochemical cell for sustainable energy economy using water-energy nexus framework

Reliance on fossil fuels will continue for the next decades even though there are global pushes away from it to mitigate the overarching climate challenge, most especially by its highest consumers and availability. While there is a hastening global shift away from fossil fuel, integrating its assets into this technology helps limit the risk and future losses of stranded assets and reduce the cost of investment in the new technologies. Moreover, the generation of electricity from intermittent renewable sources like solar and wind has witnessed a significant surge in recent years, leading to a pressing demand for practical energy storage systems. Electrical energy storage is anticipated to play a pivotal role in the future global energy system, facilitating load-leveling operations to support the greater integration of renewable and distributed generation. Reversible electrochemical cells (RECs) offer a promising option for addressing the fossil fuel assets integration and energy storage challenges through the interconversion between electrical and chemical energy and concurrent utilizing carbon emission. In their electrolysis mode, the RECs convert electricity into durable, storable, and portable valuable chemical fuels such as syngas and methane. Conversely, the produced chemical fuels can be used as reactants in the fuel cell mode to generate electricity on demand with minimal (hydrocarbons) or zero when H2 or NH3 is used emissions. However, a challenging goal for this type of technology remains to achieve optimal operation and high roundtrip efficiencies, which has hindered the deployment of previous electrochemical cells. This dissertation demonstrates how reversible protonic ceramic electrochemical cells (RePCECs) can be integrated with fossil fuel power plants and renewable energy sources as a potential energy storage system. In this work, integrated RePCEC systems are designed and examined using computational modeling at scales to determine appropriate system configurations and operating conditions that achieve high roundtrip efficiencies. Cell level design of the PCEC is the first approach, several cells are assembled for the stack level model that is integrated into combined cycle powerplant and solar photovoltaic for the system level model. After critical literature review, this answered the operational and integration research questions proposed to address these challenges. The designed systems perform two functions, utilizing captured CO2 and storing renewable energy through co-electrolysis of steam and CO2. The co-electrolysis reaction involves endothermic water electrolysis and exothermic methanation reaction. To enhance high roundtrip efficiency, there is a need for thermal balance and management in the electrolysis mode. This involves operating the RePCEC stack under conditions that favor methane production to balance out heat needed by water electrolysis, it crucial for the RePCEC system operation. Methanation is enhanced by low temperatures. Leveraging on fabricated BCZYYb-electrolyte RePCEC, the cell model designed revealed that the optimum temperature for methane production is 450℃ at atmospheric pressure. Thus, to achieve optimum system performance, operating in the temperature range 450-525℃ is recommended at the given configuration, combining between the optimum temperature for methane production and temperature for the optimum stack roundtrip efficiency. Configuration with carbon capture system and purge stream is the optimum configuration from the seven conceptualized and evaluated. The modeling outcomes include a thermodynamic examination of integrated RePCEC systems, calibration of cell and stack level models, and steady-state simulation and integration into a 600MW combined cycle power plant retrofitted with two two-stage membrane-based carbon capture system and a wastewater treatment and recovery unit. At 100% powerplant loading, the stack and system roundtrip efficiencies are 72% and 51.37% respectively. Adding a purge stream for produced hydrogen at the system downstream improves the efficiencies to 74 and 55.48% respectively. At atmospheric pressure and 525℃, the system model suggests that a stack roundtrip of 82% is achievable, and overall system efficiency increases by reducing the energy consumption by the balance of plant components for steam generation and storage. Economic analysis of the process gives levelized cost of methane as $2.24/MMBtu lower than the conventional production route that range between $3.46/MMBtu and $9.85/MMBtu. The lifecycle analysis shows that the global warming potential for the production of methane and hydrogen from the RePCEC system is 3.83 kg CO2 eq which is lower than 9.35 kg CO2 eq emission during steam methane reforming for hydrogen production. This answered both the environmental and economic concerns in the raised research question. The proposed RePCEC configuration and analysis carried out in this dissertation to address the surge in renewable energy and challenges with PCEC technology hold significant potential in achieving large-scale energy storage while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions. These advancements, coupled with suitable governmental policies and incentive programs, have the potential to economically disrupt the natural gas industries by using RePCEC systems for methane production, thereby making them more favorable for eventual implementation and commercialization.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

The Center for Momentum Transport and Flow Organization in Plasmas - Final Scientific Report

Overview of University of Colorado Efforts: The University of Colorado group has focused on two primary fronts during the grant period: development of a variety of multi-point diagnostic and/or imaging analysis techniques, and momentum-transport related experiments on a variety of devices (NSTX at PPPL, CSDX at UCSD, LAPD at UCLA, DIII-D at GA). Experimental work has taken advantage of several diagnostic instruments, including fast-framing cameras for imaging of electron density fluctuations (either directly or using injected gas puffs), ECEI for imaging of electron temperature fluctuations, and multi-tipped Langmuir and magnetic probes for corroborating measurements of Reynolds and Maxwell stresses. Mode Characterization in CSDX: We have performed a series of experiments at the CSDX linear device at UCSD, in collaboration with Center PI G. Tynan's group. The experiments included a detailed study of velocity estimation techniques, including direct comparisons between Langmuir probes and image-based velocimetry from fast-framing camera data. We used the camera data in a second set of studies to identify the spatial and spectral structure of coherent modes, which illuminates wave behavior to a level of detail previously unavailable, and enables direct comparison of dispersion curves to theoretical estimates. In another CSDX study, similar techniques were used to demonstrate a controlled transition from nonlinearly coupled discrete eigenmodes to fully developed broadband turbulence. The axial magnetic field was varied from 40-240 mT, which drove the transition. At low magnetic fields, the plasma is dominated by drift waves. As the magnetic field is increased, a strong potential gradient at the edge introduces an ExB shear-driven instability. At the transition, another mode with signatures of a rotation-induced Rayleigh–Taylor instability appears at the central plasma region. Concurrently, large axial velocities were found in the plasma core. For larger magnetic fields, all of the instabilities co-exist, leading to rich plasma dynamics and fully developed broadband turbulence. Edge-Turbulence and Flow Experiments in NSTX: A series of Gas Puff Imaging (GPI) observations on NSTX revealed a quasi-periodic oscillation in the plasma edge preceding the L-H transition in a limited set of neutral beam heated plasmas. These ~3 kHz flow oscillations exhibit both long wavelength and long correlation lengths, suggesting they are zonal-flow-like. The flow oscillations are strongly correlated with modulations of the level of edge turbulence, thus the system appears to undergo a predator--prey-type limit-cycle preceding the L-H transition. However, a clear trigger for the L-H transition was not observed. Reynolds stress profiles were obtained directly from image velocimetry for L-mode periods ELM-Precursor Studies in NSTX: A separate study based on NSTX-GPI data captured the two-dimensional evolution of edge-localized mode (ELM) precursors. Precursor events were observed preceding ELMs and ELM-induced H–L back-transitions in radio-frequency heated H-mode plasmas, and the growth of the precursor mode through the ELM filamentation was imaged in the plane perpendicular to the local B-field. Strong edge intensity modulations appeared to propagate in the electron diamagnetic direction while steadily drifting radially outwards. Intensity fluctuations were observed at frequencies around 20 kHz and wavenumbers of 0.05-0.2 cm -1 . Upon growing to a trigger point, precursor fluctuations were seen to form filamentary structures and move into the scrape-off layer (SOL) explosively with radial velocities peaking at 8 km/s. Once in the SOL, filaments reverse their propagation direction and travel in the ion diamagnetic direction. Edge intensity fluctuations were strongly correlated with magnetic signals from Mirnov coils, and toroidally distributed coils estimated toroidal mode numbers of n=5-10. Quantitatively similar precursors have been observed in ohmic H-mode plasmas as well, though significantly fewer events are seen in the ohmic cases and none were observed in the near-threshold NBI H-modes studied. Development of Velocimetry and Image Analysis Techniques: Along with the experiments listed above, the Colorado group has continued to explore various velocimetry techniques and their range of validity. We have developed a “linear optical flow” code, which calculates smooth velocity maps while accurately assessing local regions of high curl. This is critical for separating spatial scales of velocity behavior, and thus transport. This code has recently come on-line, and we are currently using it to revisit a number of older datasets. Additionally, we have worked on developing pattern-recognition techniques for imaging diagnostics, based on established digital image compression algorithms. This has the potential to open the analysis of turbulent plasma behavior beyond the well-trodden Fourier and wavelet approaches. Finally, we have extended several of these image-analysis routines to multiple other diagnostic sets, including GPI datasets in NSTX and ECEI imaging on DIII-D. In one study, correlation maps were used to measure the full 2-D mode structure of drift-wave level structures using ECEI for the first time. This enabled direct comparison to gyrokinetic simulations using the GEM code, from which is was determined that TEM modes were being measured in DIII-D.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Technical and Economic Assessment and Gap Analysis of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Integration with a Reference Oil Refinery

Efforts to identify the most-economic methods to decarbonize several sectors of the U.S. economy are underway. Industrial processes such as crude-oil refining rely heavily on energy-dense and easily stored and transported fossil fuels for powering their operations. Refineries use large amounts of energy, primarily derived from fossil sources to separate crude-oil components, break down heavier hydrocarbons into lighter compounds, remove impurities, reform hydrocarbon molecules, and generate steam and electricity for pumps and compressors and other various auxiliary systems. Crude-oil refining operations such as distillation, cracking, desulfurization, reforming, utilities systems and some offsite facilities collectively account for most of the energy consumption. Other operations such as hydrocracking or hydrotreating also require hydrogen for developing hydrogenation reactions which involve substantial heating to keep the reactors at high-temperature and pressure levels. All heat and energy demands are typically provided by natural gas (NG), oil, or other fuels, which makes refinery industry one of the most-difficult sectors to decarbonize. Nuclear power is a viable and energy-dense source of clean electricity, heat, and hydrogen to provide the large, sustainable energy supply that the refining industry demands. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program is working to perform research and development, design, economic siting, and risk analysis. This state-of-the-art work will enable the first on-site demonstrations and commercial deployments of advanced small modular nuclear reactors (SMNRs) integrated with industries such as chemical production, refining, iron and steel making, and more. IES seeks to demonstrate the ability of advanced nuclear reactors to meet the heat and power demands of these industries while reducing carbon emissions in a sustainable and cost-competitive way. The primary objective of this research effort is to analyze industrial-scale SMNR integration intended to decarbonize refining facilities. The foreseen outcome is the provision of reliable, cost-competitive, and sustainable clean energy, alongside a reduction of carbon emissions. Specifically, the focus of this work lies on meeting the reference facilities’ heat and electricity demands with nuclear power while also supplying clean hydrogen via integrated high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE). This report presents a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of the integration of advanced nuclear reactors into a reference refinery, leveraging financial incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The evaluation aims to explore the potential economic benefits and challenges associated with incorporating advanced nuclear reactors into refinery operations, particularly in terms of energy efficiency, economic implications and environmental impact. By examining both the technical feasibility and economic viability, this analysis seeks to identify existing gaps and propose solutions for successful nuclear integration implementation. The findings are intended to provide valuable insights for stakeholders considering the adoption of advanced nuclear reactors in the refining sector. A refinery reference-plant was developed, using an open-source refinery model, Petroleum Refinery Lifecycle Inventory Model (PRELIM) and expert assessment, as a base case for comparison with various nuclear integration options. The capacity of 100 kbd/day (KBD) of heavy crude-oil feed was selected to represent a general coking-type refinery with deep conversion capabilities (incorporating heavy-oil upgrading with FCC, coking, and associated hydrotreating process units), using a heavy crude-oil feed, which represents about 70% of U.S. refineries configurations. A summary of all cases considered in this study is shown in Table 1.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

HIV drug resistance during antiretroviral therapy scale-up in Uganda, 2012–19: a population-based, longitudinal study

Background With scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, increasing pretreatment HIV drug resistance has been reported; however, the broader effect of ART expansion on population-level resistance patterns remains insufficiently quantified. We aimed to estimate the longitudinal prevalence of drug resistance and resistance-conferring mutations. Methods This study used data collected as part of the Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS), an open population-based census and cohort study conducted in southern Uganda. At each survey round, residents aged 15–49 years are invited to participate and receive a structured questionnaire that obtains sociodemographic, behavioural, and health information, including self-reported past and current ART use. Voluntary HIV testing is conducted using a rapid test algorithm and a venous blood sample. People with HIV provide samples for viral load quantification and deep sequencing. We analysed RCCS survey, HIV viral load, and deep sequencing (which was used to predict resistance) data from five survey rounds. The key outcomes were the population prevalence of viraemic people with HIV with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), protease inhibitor, or multiclass resistance among all participants (regardless of HIV serostatus) in the 2015 and 2017 surveys. Prevalence of class-specific resistance and resistance-conferring substitutions were estimated using robust log-Poisson regression. Findings Between Aug 10, 2011, and Nov 4, 2020, there were 43 361 participants in the RCCS and 7923 (18·27%) people with HIV. Over five survey rounds, 93 622 participant visits occurred, among which 17 460 (18·65%) were from people with HIV. Over the analysis period, the median age of study participants remained similar (28 years [22–35] in 2012 and 29 years [21–38] in 2019). Sufficient data were available to reliably genotype 4072 (90·03%) of 4523 participant visits from 3407 people with HIV for at least one drug. Overall population prevalence of resistance contributed by viraemic pretreatment people with HIV decreased between 2012 and 2017 from 0·56% (95% CI 0·42–0·75) to 0·25% (0·18–0·33) for NNRTI and from 0·24% (0·15–0·37) to 0·05% (0·02–0·10) for NRTI (prevalence ratio 0·44 [0·29–0·68] for NNRTI and 0·21 [0·09–0·47] for NRTI). Between 2012 and 2017, NNRTI resistance among viraemic pretreatment people with HIV increased from 4·86% (3·69–6·42) to 9·61% (7·27–12·7; prevalence ratio 1·98 [1·34–2·91]). The prevalence of NNRTI and NRTI resistance was substantially higher among viraemic treatment-experienced people with HIV (51·49% [46·24–57·34] for NNRTI and 36·46% [30·06–44·22] for NRTI in 2017) than among pretreatment people with HIV. NNRTI and NRTI resistance was predominantly attributable to rtK103N and rtM184V. inT97A was observed at a similar prevalence among viraemic treatment-experienced (9·96% [6·41–15·48]) and viraemic pretreatment (10·56% [8·01–13·93]) people with HIV; no major dolutegravir resistance mutations were observed. Interpretation Despite rising NNRTI resistance among pretreatment people with HIV, overall population prevalence of pretreatment HIV drug-resistant viraemia decreased due to increasing ART uptake and viral suppression. This finding underscores the crucial role of achieving and maintaining high ART coverage in reducing transmission of drug-resistant HIV. The high prevalence of mutations conferring resistance to components of first-line ART regimens among viraemic people with HIV is potentially concerning. Funding National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗