Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Operations Security”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Deploying Automation Technology Supporting Packaging and Transportation Operations

Various United States Department of Energy (DOE) sites are investigating the deployment of robotics to provide safer, effective, and more efficient operations. By implementing robotics in packaging and transportation operations, improvements toward production efficiency, worker ergonomics, radiological dose reduction, and security assurance can be realized. Robotic Systems must be designed and implemented in concert with a facility’s safety basis, classification, and security constraints, while improving overall operational effectiveness. The desired robotic implementation should provide a path to potential long-term cost savings, reduce/eliminate hazardous conditions and radiological exposure, while improving quality and reliability of an operation process. The Savannah River Site (SRS), a DOE Site located in Aiken South Carolina, has initiated several large scale projects supporting future nuclear material disposition activities. Incorporation of automation and robotic equipment in system designs will support effective and efficient material handling operations, including container movements and packaging activities. Robotic systems will execute tasks that are precise, procedural and integrated with control systems to verify and record data for material inventory and historical archiving. An overview of the current robotic system development to perform receipt inspection, packaging, storage and shipment preparation activities of designated Type A and B shipping packages will be presented.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimal Operation for Resilient and Economic Modes in an Islanded Alaskan Grid: Preprint

Power System is a complex system, with an objective to provide power to the customers. The objective is driven by a complex consideration of the secure, economic and resilient operation of the system. With the growing occurrence of extreme events emphasis has been shifted towards making the grid more resilient. However, an economic operation is still a priority for the utilities as well as its customers. Many utilities especially small isolated micro-grids do not emphasize much on an economic and resilient operation, but more on reliability. In this research we focus on striking a balance between economic and resilientoperation, ensuring reliability.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Security by Design Economics Analysis for Advanced Reactors and Small Modular Reactors Project Interim Report for FY2021

Advanced Reactor and Small Modular Reactor (AR/SMR) designs have the potential to provide clean, reliable baseload energy. Ensuring the capability to deploy these reactors in an economically viable fashion is of interest to industry. A large portion of the expected operating costs of AR/SMRs involves the security of the plant. Security by Design (SeBD) is the practice of including features in the design and construction of the site, with the intent to decrease the operating costs related to security. Quantifying the increase or decrease in the overall lifetime cost to the plant as a result of SeBD is of paramount importance in understanding the disadvantages and benefits of such activities. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of International Nuclear Security (INS) is funding the development of a methodology whereby the capital expenses and operating expenses, as well as the physical security effectiveness, of SeBD can be quantified for AR/SMRs. This report is an interim report on the progress of the work performed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Idaho National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). It is the second annual report on this work.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Considerations for Introducing Artificial Intelligence into Nuclear Power Plants

Advanced computational tools and techniques such as artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) can transform the nuclear power industry. This is necessary given that the economic viability of the existing fleet is in jeopardy and its labor-centric approach to operations and maintenance. Currently, AI/ML research is being undertaken for reactor system design and analysis including fault and accident prognosis, nuclear risk analysis such as plant safety and security evaluation, and plant operations and maintenance including predictive maintenance. Applications include both existing and advanced reactor technologies with the aim of improving operational and business efficiencies. Most every aspect of the organization can benefit, from instrumentation and control, to work planning, to human-machine interactions and business management. AI/ML in nuclear can simplify complex problems and produce more effective decision-making. Nonetheless, careful consideration must be given to the implementation of an AI/ML initiative. The aims of this research are to 1) review barriers to AI/ML adoption within the nuclear power industry, and 2) suggest potential solutions. These barriers are organized along five distinct categories (Figure 1) that are interconnected. The first are historical barriers that track the industry’s development over the decades including worldwide nuclear events that shaped public perceptions. The resulting federal scrutiny and intense safety culture that emerged are discussed. Technical barriers to AI/ML adoption are considerable, and include data privacy concerns, data governance, and the current lack of AI/ML expert knowledge at the plants. The main business case barrier remains cost, but an absence of an industry-wide vision and wide-scale adoption also produces reluctance. Stakeholder readiness is reviewed with special attention given to regulatory readiness. The 5-year strategic plan for AI readiness recently published by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is highlighted. Last, adoption barriers at the user level are addressed including the importance of user experience and explainable AI. The AI adoption barriers described here are inter-related and ideally should be addressed in a holistic fashion.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Machine Learning Framework to Deconstruct the Primary Drivers for Electricity Market Price Events

As the electricity grid is moving towards a 100% Renewable Energy Source Bulk Power Grid, the overall operations of the power system operations and electricity markets are changing. The electricity markets are not only dispatching resources economically but also taking into account various controllable actions like renewable curtailment, transmission congestion mitigation, and energy storage optimization to make sure the grid is operating reliably. As a result, price formations in electricity markets have become quite complex. Traditional root cause analysis and statistical approaches are rendered inapplicable to analyze and infer the main drivers behind price formation in the modern grid and markets with variable renewable energy (VRE). In this paper, we propose a machine learning analysis framework to deconstruct some primary drivers for price formation in modern electricity markets with high renewable energy and the outcomes can be utilized for various critical aspects of market design, renewable dispatch and curtailment, operations, and cyber-security applications. The framework can be applied to any ISO or market data and in this paper it is applied to open-source publicly available datasets from California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and ISO New England.

machine learning (ML), electricity markets, Renewa↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Multilevel Approach To Addressing Emerging Technologies In Nuclear Security

Emerging technologies present a unique set of challenges to operators and regulators. Although emerging technologies can be used to strengthen nuclear security systems, they also can increase risks to nuclear facilities. The disruptive nature of emerging technologies could also leave operators unprepared for threats to nuclear materials or facilities. To address the potentially dangerous consequences associated with these innovations, strong adaptive mechanisms and international cooperation on threat mitigation and technological integration are vital. This paper examines the nuclear security implications of emerging technologies from an institutional (as opposed to technology-specific) perspective. Drawing on insights from a recent workshop series hosted by the Stimson Center and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Global Material Security, as well as research funded by Global Material Security and separate research conducted by Stimson, the paper begins with a definition of emerging technology that bounds the scope of the problem while leaving some margin for expert interpretation. The subsequent sections highlight the challenges as well as potential benefits that these technologies pose at each level of the nuclear security establishment, from the operators of sites hosting radiological or nuclear material, to regulators and national policy makers, to international institutions. Each section also includes specific recommendations for incorporating emerging technologies into radiological and nuclear security planning.

Andrews, Ian↗
DOE OSTI2024

GLIMPSE of Future Power Grid Models

Power grid is one of the critical national infrastructures with social, economics, and national security impacts. Particularly, power distribution systems represent part of the infrastructure between power distribution substations and customers such as residential, commercial, and industrial. To address various grid modernization challenges, state-of-the-art algorithms and methodologies have been developed to deploy, operate, and expand a secure and resilient power grid. At the same time, there is a need to develop capabilities to assist power grid stakeholders to quickly get insight into the design and structure of the grid. Data visualization is a key approach to comprehend and understand complex systems such as the power grid. We present GLIMPSE Grid Layout Interface for Model Preview and System Exploration), a graph-based semantic-aware application to visualize and update distribution power grid models. The GLIMPSE can be used with standard IEEE models to search and highlight power grid objects such as generators, loads, overhead lines, etc. Additionally, it supports updating attributes and model export to integrate with GridLAB-D simulations.

Cybersecurity, power grid, visualization↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Multi-Site Networked Hardware-in-Loop Platform for Evaluation of Interoperability and Distributed Intelligence at Grid-Edge

Electric power systems have experienced large increases in the number of intelligent, connected and controllable devices being deployed, leading to a high degree of distributed intelligence at the grid-edge. These devices, both utility-owned and consumer-owned, include but are not limited to: renewable generation sources, energy storage, remote switches, voltage regulators, and smart controllable loads such as electric vehicles. These new devices provide significant potential for increased operational flexibility that can be leveraged to achieve system reconfiguration, resiliency improvements, power quality improvements, and distribution system automation. However, there are two significant challenges that must be addressed before these assets can be leveraged for operations: interoperability and system level validation prior to deployment. Because of the complexity of distributed control systems, and their interactions with legacy centralized controls, a purely simulations-based approach for pre-deployment validation is not sufficient. It requires hardware-in-loop testing to emulate the operational hardware devices and evaluate their performance. Additionally, securely integrating multiple test facilities at utility operators and vendors might enable rapid scale-up of evaluation platforms, and remove the need for multiple expensive standalone installations. Presented in this paper, is the development of a multi-site evaluation platform that employs Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS), distributed control devices, real-time hardware-in-loop assets, secure communication links, and protocol adapters. This platform uses standards-based approaches and open-source tools, and hence can serve as a template for other researchers and institutions to implement their multi-site evaluation frameworks for pre-deployment testing.

Essakiappan, Somasundaram↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimization of the Post-Operational Phase on Two Belgian Multi-Unit Nuclear Power Plants: the Case of the Non-Fissile Irradiated Core Items - 20156

The current legal framework in Belgium foresees the progressive phase out of nuclear power between October 2022 (Doel 3) and December 2025 (Doel 2). Upon its definitive shutdown, each unit of the Tihange and Doel sites will enter a Post-Operational Phase (POP) and be prepared for its Decontamination and Decommissioning (D and D). Prior to obtaining the D and D license, the Operator Electrabel is legally required to remove any non-fissile irradiated core items stored in the deactivation pools. The non-fissile irradiated core items consist essentially of control rods, poison rods and source thimbles as well as thimble plugs and foreign materials irradiated during operation: - Their significant content in highly radiant radionuclides (up to 6 TBq of Co-60 per kg of irradiated material) renders all existing operational waste management processes inadequate due to insufficient biological shielding; - Their high concentrations in long-lived radionuclides call for their disposal in a geological repository for which no final design nor waste acceptance criteria are expected prior to 2050. Uncertainties in the Belgian energy supply and security, however, require the Operator to be prepared for a partial nuclear phase out, where one or more units would benefit from lifetime extension while the remaining units would undergo decommissioning. The present paper aims at presenting how Electrabel, in partnership with Tractebel, addressed this challenge by maximizing the use of synergies within the respective sites as well as between both sites themselves, all the while accounting for site specificities. The most recent results and state of progress of the project will be detailed and the first lessons learned will be shared. The project has been split in multiple tasks and phased as follows: - An inventory phase aimed at mapping the contents, origin, composition and history of the non-fissile irradiated core items; - A pre-characterization phase based on neutron activation models; - A waste sorting phase aimed at separating waste forms for which an evacuation route exists from those for which such route does not exist; - A feasibility phase aimed at exploring all possible scenarios for the management of non-fissile irradiated core items and identifying the optimal feasible solution for each site; - A preparation phase (currently ongoing), developing further the optimal solution and ensuring that back-up solutions are available for any foreseeable change of context (licensing issue, modification in the nuclear phase-out program, etc.) and initiating early contacts with potential subcontractors for segmentation works and cask manufacturers, as well as the Belgian regulatory body and waste management agency. This phase also foresees the investigation of destructive and non-destructive radiological measurements to support the detailed characterization of the waste forms; - A realization phase (future work). (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

1MV Febetron Pulse Generator Operator's Manual

The Febetron Pulse Generator (FPG) is an experimental assembly used to store electrical energy for a period of time and then release that energy over a short duration pulse to achieve high instantaneous power outputs. The FPG is an ideal device to be used for a variety high energy physics experiments. For mobility and ease of repeatable operation, the FPG is secured on a rolling test fixture and paired with a diagnostic and controls rack. The combination of the FPG, test fixture cart, SF6 gas cart, and controls rack is identified as the Pulse Generator Testing Assembly (PGTA). This document outlines all necessary information regarding the working principles, assembly/disassembly, maintenance, operation, uses, hazards, and experimental procedures of the 1 Mega Volt (MV) PGTA. This document, in addition to the manufacturer’s manuals, should be utilized as a reference whenever working with the PGTA and any of its components.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

On Secured Spinning Reserve Deployment of Energy-Limited Resources Against Contingencies

Featured with fast response abilities and high ramp rates, energy storage systems (ESS), such as pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) plants and battery storage systems (BSS), are considered as key first-responders to provide spinning reserve in response to system contingencies. However, ESSs are energy-limited resources, and their sustained spinning reserve deployment is restricted by the stored energy and available capacity. Indeed, the spinning reserve deployment against contingencies may deviate actual state-of-charge (SOC) from the scheduled value, inducing potential SOC boundary violations and non-dispatchability in later hours. This paper proposes the post-contingency operation model and the spinning reserve secure constraints to address these issues. The post-contingency operation model describes that spinning reserve from ESSs is promptly deployed when contingency occurs, and then gradually substituted by quick-start units when they are switched online. By leveraging this operation strategy, spinning reserve secure constraints in terms of SOC headrooms are adopted to guarantee its deplorability. Furthermore, a modified IEEE 118-bus system with multiple PSHs and BSSs is used to verify the proposed approach.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chapter Nine - Automated Optimal Control in Energy Systems: The Reinforcement Learning Approach

With the development of smart grid technologies an increasing number of new devices and participants have joined modern energy systems and are inevitably making them more complicated and interdependent than ever. Optimally controlling such a complex energy system and maintaining its operation in a high-efficient, secure, and resilient manner are challenging tasks to the system operators. Fortunately, the revolution in deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI), both from hardware and algorithms perspectives, has provided new ideas and solutions to many previously intractable problems. As a result, this advance in computer science also sparked great research interests in utilizing AI in solving engineering problems related to the modern energy systems. Among many AI techniques, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has demonstrated great potential for solving sequential optimization problems, which are very common in the engineering domains. Its ability to handle nonlinearity and stochasticity in controlled systems has out-competed many traditional optimal control algorithms. Therefore in this chapter, we focus on the state-of-the-art of DRL concepts and related algorithms, compare their pros and cons with traditional optimal control approaches and discuss the typical workflow for leveraging RL in solving complex problems in modern energy systems.

artificial intelligence↗
DOE OSTI2025

Driving Economics and Reducing Risks: The Business Case for Security-by-Design in Nuclear Power

This report provides an analysis of the financial, operational, and strategic advantages of incorporating Security-by-Design (SeBD) early in the lifecycle of nuclear power plant projects. By framing security as a foundational design element rather than a late-stage add-on, owners, vendors, and operators can reduce budget overruns, strengthen regulatory compliance, and increase revenue opportunities. The report details key lifecycle phases, highlighting the strategic imperative for organizations (including project developers, investors, vendors, and regulators) to adopt SeBD. Drawing on industry estimates, real-world case studies, and comparative cost analyses, the findings underscore that even a modest upfront investment in SeBD can yield substantial long-term returns by preventing costly retrofit activities, minimizing regulatory delays, and positioning nuclear vendors for the ability to adapt in the evolving security market. By avoiding excessive retrofit expenses and positioning security as a built-in feature rather than an afterthought, nuclear projects can protect their financial performance, enhance public trust, and secure a competitive edge in an increasingly complex global energy market. The authors advocate for SeBD’s strategic implementation, supported by established quality management methodologies, thereby promoting continuous improvement and defect avoidance. Ultimately, early SeBD integration represents a strategic investment, yielding significant returns by preventing costly retrofits and positioning nuclear projects for enhanced competitiveness and public trust.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cyber-Informed Engineering Guidance—Implementing CIE in Early Systems Engineering Lifecycle Stages

Traditionally, cybersecurity is not considered in the design process. Design engineers typically focus on building safety and reliability into their products and applications. Security against malicious cyber incidents is often an afterthought, resulting in deployment of security solutions during installation or operation. Unfortunately, waiting to consider cybersecurity until later in the systems engineering lifecycle often results in less effective and more expense security. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) developed the concept of Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) in 2015 to provide a framework that enables cybersecurity to be built into systems beginning at the conceptual design stage. In addition to ongoing research by INL, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response has recently developed a National CIE Strategy document for incorporating CIE into the design and operation of infrastructure systems reliant on digital monitoring or controls. This paper provides a brief review of this National CIE Strategy as well as a roadmap to historical, current, and future CIE research by INL through the U.S. DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Cybersecurity Crosscutting Technology Development Program. A near-term focus of the DOE-NE’s research and development is to extend the foundational CIE work into detailed guidance for implementation during initial systems engineering stages in nuclear digital instrumentation and control projects and to demonstrate use of the guidance in an integrated energy systems project.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Implementation and Demonstration of the Digital Twin Certification System Remote Operations Framework

Microreactors are one promising advanced-reactor concept being pursued by the nuclear industry. They are distinguished by a relatively low power output of 20 MWth or less. These microreactors are intended for deployment in applications where conventional small-capacity power solutions, such as diesel generators, are either economically unfeasible or logistically challenging. Such applications include providing electric power and/or heat for remote communities, mining sites, defense installations, and humanitarian and disaster-relief missions. An important feature for the successful deployment of microreactors is their capability to be operated remotely. This capability can significantly reduce staffing costs by eliminating the need for licensed operators to be physically present at each reactor site. Instead, operators can be centralized in a single remote operations center placed in an economically advantageous location, thereby optimizing resources by consolidating expertise and enhancing operational efficiency. However, the implementation of a remote operation system for nuclear reactors raises new concerns regarding the security, reliability, and resilience of such a system. One way in which remote operations can be supported in a manner that maintains system security, reliability, and resilience is through the use of digital twins in a novel framework designed to verify and validate sensor data and commands communicated between the remote operations center and reactor. This framework, known as the Digital Twin Certification System (DTCS), has previously been proposed as an operations architecture that can bring security and resiliency levels of remote nuclear-reactor operations to a level acceptable for commercial deployment. This paper moves the proposed DTCS architecture from concept to reality by presenting the implementation and testing of the system. The rationale and implementation of the DTCS using tools such as DeepLynx and Apache Airflow, is covered in-depth. This is followed by a demonstration of the DTCS by applying the implemented system architecture to the Single Primary Heat Extraction and Removal Emulator, a small-scale non-nuclear test bed that emulates thermal behavior of a microreactor. The demonstration includes both normal and abnormal operating scenarios to highlight how the DTCS can increase the security, reliability, and resilience of a remote operations system.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Implementation and Demonstration of the Digital Twin Certification System Remote Operations Framework

Microreactors are one promising advanced-reactor concept being pursued by the nuclear industry. They are distinguished by a relatively low power output of 20 MWth or less. These microreactors are intended for deployment in applications where conventional small-capacity power solutions, such as diesel generators, are either economically unfeasible or logistically challenging. Such applications include providing electric power and/or heat for remote communities, mining sites, defense installations, and humanitarian and disaster-relief missions. An important feature for the successful deployment of microreactors is their capability to be operated remotely. This capability can significantly reduce staffing costs by eliminating the need for licensed operators to be physically present at each reactor site. Instead, operators can be centralized in a single remote operations center placed in an economically advantageous location, thereby optimizing resources by consolidating expertise and enhancing operational efficiency. However, the implementation of a remote operation system for nuclear reactors raises new concerns regarding the security, reliability, and resilience of such a system. One way in which remote operations can be supported in a manner that maintains system security, reliability, and resilience is through the use of digital twins in a novel framework designed to verify and validate sensor data and commands communicated between the remote operations center and reactor. This framework, known as the Digital Twin Certification System (DTCS), has previously been proposed as an operations architecture that can bring security and resiliency levels of remote nuclear-reactor operations to a level acceptable for commercial deployment. This paper moves the proposed DTCS architecture from concept to reality by presenting the implementation and testing of the system. The rationale and implementation of the DTCS using tools such as DeepLynx and Apache Airflow, is covered in-depth. This is followed by a demonstration of the DTCS by applying the implemented system architecture to the Single Primary Heat Extraction and Removal Emulator, a small-scale non-nuclear test bed that emulates thermal behavior of a microreactor. The demonstration includes both normal and abnormal operating scenarios to highlight how the DTCS can increase the security, reliability, and resilience of a remote operations system.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Study on Conduction Cooling of Superconducting Magnets for the ILC Main Linac

In the main linac of the International Linear Collider (ILC), superconducting magnets for beam focusing and steering will be located periodically in superconducting RF (SRF) cavity string for beam acceleration in common cryomodules. A concept of conduction cooling of the combined-functioned, splittable superconducting magnets has been proposed and investigated to adapt much different features and to meet different requirements for the superconducting magnet and SRF cavity in fabrication, assembly, and operation. It is required to integrate the superconducting magnet after the SRF cavity string assembly which completed under an ultra-clean environment. The magnet must be conductively cooled down through thermal links to a liquid helium supply pipe. According to this concept, a model magnet development was carried out in cooperation with Fermilab and KEK, and has been demonstrated in KEK superconducting RF test facility (STF). In addition, an important issue has been recently identified. High gradient SRF cavities naturally emit field emission electron flux from the inner surface, so-called dark current. It may pass through the subsequent SRF cavity string and penetrate into the superconducting magnets placed downstream. It may heat up the superconducting coils, and may cause a quench. Therefore, further study on reliable conduction cooling and to secure the superconducting magnet operation with a keeping sufficient safety margin is quite essential. In this paper, we report the installation, the improvement achieved in STF, and the R&D progress in the study on the conduction cooling of the superconducting magnet for the ILC main linac.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗