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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

GeoMelt{sup R} In-Container Vitrification (ICV){sup TM} for Fukushima Daiichi Water Treatment Secondary Wastes - 20212

The Japanese government is supporting development work implemented jointly by Veolia subsidiaries Kurion Japan, K.K., Veolia Nuclear Solutions (VNS), Inc., and Veolia Nuclear Solutions Federal Services, LLC for treating radioactive waste generated from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) water treatment using the GeoMelt{sup TM} In-Container Vitrification (ICV){sup TM} technology. The initial work consisted of glass formulation and engineering-scale testing which was completed in 2018, in the frame of an IRID (International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning) program as part of a project subsidized by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The Fukushima Daiichi NPS Mid- and Long-Term Road-map requires investigation of methods to stabilize solid wastes (and to immobilize radioisotopes in the wastes) generated as a result of emergency response and decommissioning activities. Cooling water treatment has resulted in a significant amount of solid and slurry secondary wastes (mostly adsorbents and ion-exchange materials) which will require processing at some point. GeoMelt{sup R} ICV{sup TM} is a joule-heated melter technology which uses a refractory-lined single-use container combining the melter and disposal container. There is no pouring required nor concerns with refractory corrosion which allows the process to accommodate a wide range of waste chemistries and high waste loadings. The testing described here consisted of three engineering-scale melts, each processing between 212 kg and 240 kg of waste simulants, glass formers, and non-radioactive cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) tracers. Continuous isokinetic stack sampling of off-gas emissions was performed for each test in order to calculate Cs and Sr retention in the glass wasteform. Single-pass retention of Cs in the final glass wasteform ranged from 91.46 to 99.30%, and single-pass retention of Sr ranged from 99.76 to 100%. Planned particulate recycle will increase these retention levels. Melt 1 processed a mixture of KUR-EH (a zeolite-based ion-exchange material), simulated Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) Carbonate and Iron Slurries, and glass additives. Melt 2 processed a mixture of KUR-EH, KUR-TSG (a titanate-based adsorbent), and glass additives. Melt 3 processed a mixture of KUR-EH, simulated barium sulfate/iron ferrocyanide sludge (AREVA sludge), and glass additives. Waste loadings for these melts ranged from 70 weight percent (wt%) to 82 wt%. Vitrification produces a waste form much denser than the stored water treatment secondary waste wastes, resulting in significant volume reduction. Volume reductions for the three tests ranged from 74 to 79 vol%. Vitrification produces a chemically durable wasteform. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) tested three glass samples from each engineering-scale melt) by the Materials Characterization Center 1 (MCC-1) test, an international standard leach test of the chemical durability of nuclear waste glasses. PNNL also obtained one U.S. reference glass (EA Glass) and two Japan reference glasses P0798) and tested these under the same MCC-1 conditions (90 deg. C, 10 m-1, DIW, and 7, 14, 28-day) as the GeoMelt{sup R} ICV{sup TM} glasses. The GeoMelt{sup R} ICV{sup TM} glasses exhibited lower total normalized releases and 14- to 28-day normalized release rates than the three reference glasses. These results suggest that the GeoMelt{sup R} ICV{sup TM} glasses have durabilities on par with high-level waste glasses under standard test conditions. Post-melt process sampling and analysis indicated no Cs migration into the melter refractory materials and very little deposition of Cs or Sr onto the melter hood or off-gas piping internals. The results of the testing indicated good Cs retention in the glass, high volume reduction and waste loadings, and excellent chemical durability. These factors are important to minimize treatment costs and to protect workers and the environment. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quantitative Risk Analysis of High Safety Significant Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants using IRADIC Technology

This report documents the activities performed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during fiscal year (FY) 2021 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) Risk Assessment project. In FY-2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a strong technical basis to support effective, licensable, and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. An integrated risk assessment technology for the DI&C systems (IRADIC technology) was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate risk-informed capability to quantitatively and accurately estimate the safety margin obtained from plant modernization, especially for the High Safety Significant Safety-related (HSSSR) DI&C systems, (2) develop an advanced risk assessment technology to support transition from analog to DI&C technologies for nuclear industry, (3) assure the long-term safety and reliability of vital HSSSR DI&C systems, (4) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. To achieve these technical goals and deal with the expensive licensing justifications from regulatory insights, the IRADIC technology is instructive for nuclear vendors and utilities to effectively lower the costs associated with digital compliance and speed industry advances by: (1) defining an integrated risk-informed analysis process for DI&C upgrade, including hazard analysis, reliability analysis, and consequence analysis, (2) applying systematic and risk-informed tools to address common cause failures (CCFs) and quantify responding failure probabilities for DI&C technologies, particularly software CCFs, (3) evaluating the impact of digital failures at the individual level, system level, and plant level, (4) providing insights and suggestions on designs to manage the risks; thus, to support the development, licensing, and deployment of advanced DI&C technologies on nuclear power plant (NPPs). In this report, an approach for performing software CCF analysis, given limited data, is developed and demonstrated using a case study of a highly redundant digital reactor trip system. Consequence analysis is also performed based on different accident scenarios. Results indicate that plant modernization including the improvement of HSSSR DI&C systems will make great benefits to plant safety by providing more safety margins to accident management. In addition, a novel approach is proposed in this report for the quantification of software hazards when sufficient operational and testing data available. The method incorporates software development quality as well as strong analysis techniques to identify and link software defects to potential failure modes. The approach includes both semantic and test-based analysis to detect failures that can exist in different stages of the software development life cycle. This method is applied to an advanced human system interface relevant to reactor trip safety developed from the APR 1400 design.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

TEAMER: Biofouling Analysis for Wave Energy Piston Design - Load Cell Data

Biofouling and corrosion are a major concern for all ocean-deployed components, especially when mechanical motion is involved. Triton has developed the concept of a biofouling mitigation seal as part of the piston sealing assembly for the Triton Wave Energy Converter (TSI-WEC). This mitigation seal has the purpose of preventing the formation of a biofilm on the inside of the piston cylinder. It is hypothesized that the prevention of a biofilm will reduce the amount of macro-biofouling that can occur in the piston assembly. The mitigation seal can also reduce the wear on the main dynamic seal, helping to maintain smooth operation and water-tightness. The cylinder is made from a thermoset composite epoxy, which is resistant to corrosion. However, no studies have researched the material's performance with biofouling. Triton placed two prototype Power Take-Off (PTO) assemblies in a PNNL biofouling tank, one with a biofouling mitigation seal and one without, allowing for an evaluation of seal effectiveness at the prevention of biofouling. In actual WEC operation, wave action would react against the piston, which would drive the linear actuator and electric generator, providing electrical power. In the test setup, this was reversed; a linear actuator was powered to drive the piston in a consistent motion within the cylinder. There are two assemblies: one has a biofouling mitigation seal, the other (control) does not. The following data encompasses a 4 month test period, with load cells being used to monitor piston friction force. Results from this testing will be used to improve seal design and material selection, mitigating risk of premature failure during open water testing and evaluation. This project is part of the TEAMER RFTS 3 (request for technical support) program.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2023

Updated Assessment of Water-Energy Issues for Nuclear Power

There is significant ongoing need for understanding the water-energy nexus issues in the U.S. commercial nuclear energy industry. The water-energy nexus is a dynamic, ever evolving conundrum involving technological changes, regulatory concerns, economic constraints, environmental issues, and political attributes. This report provides a brief update on the water-energy nexus challenges facing the U.S. commercial industry since the 2010 report titled “Cooling Water Issues and Opportunities at the U.S. Nuclear Power Plants”. Since the 2010 report, nuclear power has experienced significant curtailments due to drought, intake and discharge temperatures, and flooding. These events will be exacerbated by global climate and resource competition. Water and energy regulation changes have accelerated and pose a particular risk to the commercial nuclear fleet compliance. The definition of Water of the United States continues to be litigated as water rights are being evaluated for fair and equitable allocation. The ability to maintain compliance with state and federal water regulations offers a substantial risk to the commercial nuclear industry, and therefore understanding the energy-water nexus is necessary for maintaining success of the current fleet.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Advancing the HERO WEC Through Integrated Modeling, Testing, and Field Deployments

The Hydraulic and Electric Reverse Osmosis Wave Energy Converter (HERO WEC) was developed by the National Laboratory of the Rockies as a modular platform for advancing wave-powered desalination technologies. Designed to operate in either a hydraulic or electric configuration, the system enables direct comparison of mechanical-to-water and electrical-to-water conversion pathways using a single hardware architecture. Deployments in 2022 and 2024 at the Jennette's Pier test site in North Carolina demonstrated freshwater production between 60 and 300 gallons per day, including successful operation in wave heights as low as 0.25 m. A structured evaluation approach combining numerical modeling of hydrodynamic and power take-off response, controlled laboratory testing, and in-ocean field deployments has been used to characterize and refine system performance. Specifically, insights from these efforts are now informing the second-generation HERO WEC (V2) to increase robustness and overall survivability. Changes from the original prototype include improved drivetrain components, refined geometry, enhanced control systems, and design. The HERO WEC platform continues to serve as an open-access research asset supporting broader marine energy and desalination development.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sequence Impedance Modeling of Grid-Forming Converters: Preprint

Grid-forming control of inverter-based resources (IBRs) has been identified as a critical technology for operating power systems with high levels of inverter-based resources. This paper presents sequence impedance modeling of grid-forming inverters to evaluate its small-signal stability properties. Droop based grid-forming control with full consideration of the multiloop structure is studied, and the impact of individual controller on the inverter impedance characteristics is discussed. The developed sequence impedance model is compared with that of the grid-following inverter. It is found from the developed sequence impedance models that grid-forming inverters are less prone to harmonic resonance problems during operation with weaker grids. The developed models are validated using PSCAD simulations.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Establishing Regulatory Jurisdictional Boundaries at Collocated Advanced-Reactor Facilities

This white paper discusses establishing and applying nuclear facility jurisdictional boundaries at advanced-nuclear-reactor facilities. It was written for industry review and evaluation with possible consideration by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for subsequent regulatory action. The paper proposes a regulatory basis for establishing jurisdictional boundaries at operational advanced (i.e., non-light water) reactor installations at sites proximate to and sharing systems with non-NRC regulated facilities (e.g., users of process heat, fossil-plant retrofits, microgrid electrical power, desalination, etc.). Advanced-reactor technologies can be applied to support many industrial applications to replace the burning of fossil fuels as well as produce steam for electricity. The principal application of the current light-water reactor fleet is electricity generation. These varied industrial applications may involve an advanced-reactor design in combination with different site-specific energy-conversion systems. Some of these process-heat applications will require process-heat delivery systems to lie partially outside the advanced-reactor operator’s facility. Energy conversion systems are conventional, non-nuclear equipment and buildings. Given these varied applications, there should be a clear understanding between the advanced-reactor applicant and the NRC regarding a nominal demarcation between those systems that reside within the nuclear facility under the regulatory jurisdiction of the NRC (i.e., within the scope of a 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 50 operating license or Part 52 design certification and a combined license) and those that fall outside the scope of the NRC (e.g., an industrial facility). Additionally, it is important to have a clear understanding regarding the plant scope that should be addressed in an advanced-reactor facility Part 52, design certification application and the part of the plant scope that could be addressed as part of a site specific combined license application.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program: Complete the weld campaign on Ni-base irradiated materials using stress improved laser welding including the preliminary weld quality inspections

This report summarizes the most recent welding campaign on irradiated Ni-base alloy 182 and the preliminary weld quality inspections at the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC). Equipment and capabilities were developed jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, the Electric Power Research Institute, Long Term Operations Program (and the Welding and Repair Technology Center), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Irradiated nickel alloy 182, with target helium contents of 5 atom parts-per million (appm), 10 appm, and 20 appm, were laser welded in the hot cell successfully. The significant, on-going effort to weld irradiated alloys with high helium concentrations and comprehensively analyze the results will eventually yield validated repair techniques and guidelines for use by the nuclear industry in extending the operational lifetimes of nuclear power plants. This report fulfills the FY 2023 milestone M3LW-22OR0406013, “Complete the weld campaign on Ni base irradiated materials using stress improved laser welding including the preliminary weld quality inspections”.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Complete the first phase of the comprehensive characterization of repair welding performed on irradiated Ni alloy 182

This report describes the research activities on post-weld evaluation and characterization of the quality and properties of welds made on the first phase of repair welding campaign on irradiated Ni alloy 182. The equipment and capabilities of the campaign were developed jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, the Electric Power Research Institute, Long Term Operations Program (and the Welding and Repair Technology Center), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Irradiated nickel alloy 182 with doped boron ranging from 5 wppm to 15 wppm, were laser welded in the hot cell. The weld samples were cross-sectioned and characterized. The significant, on-going effort to weld irradiated alloys with high helium concentrations and comprehensively analyze the results will eventually yield validated repair techniques and guidelines for use by the nuclear industry in extending the operational lifetimes of nuclear power plants.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Molecular-Level Overhaul of y-Aminopropyl Aminosilicone/Triethylene Glycol Post-Combustion CO2-Capture Solvents

Capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from post-combustion gas streams is an energy-intensive process that is required prior to either converting or sequestering CO2. There are a few commercial offerings of 1st and 2nd generation aqueous amine technologies, however the cost of capturing CO2 with these technologies remains high. To decrease costs of capture, researchers are designing efficient solvent systems with the goal of being drop-in replacements for 1st and 2nd generation infrastructure. One approach has seen the development of water-lean solvents that aim to increase efficiency by reducing the water content in solution. Water-lean solvents such as GE’s GAP/TEG are promising technologies, with potential to halve the parasitic load to a coal-fired power plant, only if the intrinsically high solution viscosities and hydrolysis of the siloxane moieties could be mitigated. We present here, an integrated multidisciplinary approach to overhaul the GAP/TEG solvent system at the molecular level to mitigate hydrolysis while also reducing viscosity. We present molecular-level insights into chemical speciation of CO2-containing ions, showing that co-solvents and diluents have a negligible effect on reducing viscosity and are not needed. This finding allowed for the design of singlecomponent siloxane-free diamine derivatives with site-specific incorporation of selective chemical moieties for direct placement and orientation of hydrogen bonding to reduce viscosity. Ultimately, we present new single-component diamine formulations less susceptible to hydrolysis that exhibit up to a 98% reduction in viscosity compared to the initial GAP/TEG formulation.

Cantu Cantu, David↗
DOE OSTI2024

Basic Energy Sciences Roundtable: Foundational Science to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Innovation

Energy security, availability, and reliability are among the greatest challenges facing the nation and the planet. An abundant potential source of energy resides in the fundamental atomic building blocks of the universe in the form of nuclear fission and fusion reactions. In fact, energy from nuclear fission currently provides the majority of the world’s zero-carbon electricity, and future fusion energy systems offer great promise; carbon-free nuclear energy technologies can be key to the world’s decarbonized energy future. Although contemporary fission systems use well-established technologies to supply safe and efficient baseload power, they could be more fuel efficient and less costly. Moving beyond massive light-water fission reactors to a variety of advanced nuclear systems—which will vary in size and operate in extremes of temperature, corrosivity, and other parameters—will place stringent conditions on materials and chemical systems. New demands will be placed on the coolants and solvents, the materials, and the monitoring tools used in these reactors. Fusion-based nuclear energy will require superior materials to withstand extremely high temperatures, plasma exposure, radiation damage, and implanted gases. The advantages associated with these new fission and fusion technologies will be realized only through continued advancements in the fundamental science underpinning our knowledge of the physics and chemistry of nuclear systems gained via improved experimental and computational methods. In July 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences—in coordination with the Offices of Nuclear Energy, Fusion Energy Sciences, and Advanced Scientific Computing Research—held a virtual roundtable titled “Foundational Science to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Innovation” to discuss the scientific and technical barriers for advanced nuclear energy systems. Five priority research opportunities were identified to address these scientific and technical challenges and to accelerate progress toward the realization of next-generation fusion and fission energy systems. The foundational science gaps inhibiting the advancement of nuclear energy technologies are identified and tackled in five priority research opportunities. These opportunities pave the way to accelerate the development and ultimately the adoption of new nuclear energy systems. They include the fundamental aspects of ion-electron interactions; novel properties of next-generation coolants and solvents; interfacial dynamics, not only in solids, but in other aspects of nuclear reactors; novel operando and in situ monitoring and sensing; and artificial intelligence to accelerate condensed phases discovery. Building on the foundation established by previous Basic Energy Sciences workshops, these opportunities encompass recent advances in fundamental knowledge and focus on the experimental and computational methods needed to resolve major technical challenges for nuclear energy technologies. Through developing fundamental scientific insight as well as pushing the frontiers of modeling complex systems and probing the operation of materials and chemical systems in extreme environments, research motivated by the priorities identified here will further develop the promise, potential, and utilization of nuclear energy for a clean energy future.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Final Report for Water Electrodialysis Reversal Pilot

This final report presents all the work and tests performed during ION Clean Energy’s Water Electrodialysis Reversal Pilot referred to as the “WERP” Project (DE-FE-0032066). ION Clean Energy Engineering (ION) and Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) executed the Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) Pilot Study and developed a commercial cost estimate needed to evaluate the retrofit of an EDR system to NPPD’s Gerald Gentleman Station (GGS). The proven project team was comprised of NPPD, Sargent & Lundy (S&L) and ElectroSep, who is a leading developer, fabricator and operator of electrodialysis units. ION, working in conjunction with NPPD and ElectoSep, developed a test program for evaluating the performance of the EDR technology proposed to be employed and evaluated for this pilot. The Department of Energy’s National Energy and Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) awarded ION Clean Energy, Inc. a single budget period (BP) of $816,759 with $207,942 of in-kind contribution from NPPD to investigate ElectroSep’s Electrodialysis technology to clean grey water from NPPD’s GGS.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2023

Global assessment of the carbon–water tradeoff of dry cooling for thermal power generation

Water scarcity and climate change are dual challenges that could potentially threaten energy security. Yet, integrated water–carbon management frameworks coupling diverse water- and carbon-mitigation technologies at high spatial heterogeneity are largely underdeveloped. Here we build a global unit-level framework to investigate the CO 2 emission and energy penalty due to the deployment of dry cooling—a critical water mitigation strategy—together with alternative water sourcing and carbon capture and storage under climate scenarios. We find that CO 2 emission and energy penalty for dry cooling units are location and climate specific (for example, 1–15% of power output), often demonstrating notably faster efficiency losses than rising temperature, especially under the high climate change scenario. Despite energy and CO 2 penalties associated with alternative water treatment and carbon capture and storage utilization, increasing wastewater and brine water accessibility provide potential alternatives to dry cooling for water scarcity alleviation, whereas CO 2 storage can help to mitigate dry cooling-associated CO 2 emission tradeoffs when alternative water supply is insufficient. By demonstrating an integrative planning framework, our study highlights the importance of integrated power sector planning under interconnected dual water–carbon challenges.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Life cycle assessment of novel heat exchanger for dry cooling of power plants based on encapsulated phase change materials

Cooling systems in power plants account for approximately 40% of total freshwater withdrawals in the U.S. Due to dwindling access to freshwater resources worldwide, continued operation of wet cooling systems poses a significant engineering challenge. To reduce water consumption, a novel air-cooled heat exchanger has been developed using encapsulated phase change material (EPCM) for dry cooling of power plants. Compared to traditional finned-tube air-cooled condensers, this novel EPCM heat exchanger improves the heat transfer coefficient and power plant efficiency while reducing the pressure drop and cooling system cost. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) are used to evaluate the environmental and economic performance of EPCM heat exchangers from cradle-to-grave and to compare them to wet cooling and traditional air-cooled condensers. A thermodynamic model is developed to predict the EPCM heat exchanger performance for plant-scale operations. Equipment and construction costs for heat exchangers are estimated based on design parameters obtained from the thermodynamic model. Both process-LCA and economic-input–output LCA are used to simulate and test the sensitivity of EPCM alternatives with commercial wet and dry cooling technologies. We investigate options for EPCM end-of-life management upon retiring the heat exchanger and construct a process-based LCA model to estimate a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credit for recycling the EPCM. The life cycle GHG emission of the novel dry cooling technology is 1.16 kg CO 2 eq. /MWh compared with the 1.1–4.3 kg CO 2 eq. /MWh reported for commercial dry cooling technologies and consumes 9.5 L/MWh e of water for cradle-to-gate life cycle, which is significantly lower than that of wet cooling systems. The TEA shows many advantages of EPCM cooling technology over the state-of-art dry cooling solutions. Overall, the EPCM heat exchanger provides a better alternative compared to existing dry cooling and wet cooling technologies.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Levelized cost and carbon intensity of solar hydrogen production via water splitting using a scalable and intrinsically safe photocatalytic Z-scheme raceway system

Generating hydrogen from local energy resources such as solar or wind would unlock a low-carbon energy carrier that could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in sectors such as industry and transportation. Yet, the allocation of new or existing power generation solely to hydrogen production remains contentious due to disputes regarding emissions accounting. Photocatalytic (PC) hydrogen production technologies offer a unique solution, as hydrogen is produced directly from solar energy and water, without the need for electricity generation. However, cost projections for all photocatalytic designs to date have suggested that they are not cost competitive compared to conventional electrolysis systems manufactured at scale. Herein, we offer the first illustrative benchmark of cost and carbon intensity of hydrogen produced in a type 2 “Z-scheme” photocatalytic reactor design, which employs suspended semiconducting nanoconductor particles organized into two stacked volumes in a raceway design. The “Z-scheme” system utilizes two separate photoabsorber particles, tuned to drive either the hydrogen evolution reaction or the oxygen evolution reaction individually, connected via a reversible, charge transfer redox couple in solution. Furthermore, the results suggest a highly competitive and scalable technology, that justifies further experimental validation and prototyping in the field.

Carbon↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reports from the Frontier: Understanding Voltage Losses in Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers

With the growth of renewable energy sources, hydrogen is attracting significant attention worldwide as an effective medium for energy storage. “Green hydrogen” is currently produced primarily by water electrolysis in which water is split into hydrogen and oxygen using power from low-carbon energy sources such as wind, solar, and nuclear. Among the low temperature water electrolysis technologies, anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs) have recently emerged as a promising competitor to traditional alkaline water electrolyzers (AWEs) and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers (PEMELs) due to their potential stack cost reduction in various cell components. In conclusion, favorable aspects of AEMWEs include the use of PGM-free electrocatalysts as well as low-cost membranes, bipolar plates (BPs), and porous transport layers while offering high voltage efficiency and durability.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

A comparative assessment of the economic viability of nuclear-integrated direct air capture systems

Direct air capture (DAC) systems require heat and electricity to operate, which can be supplied by nuclear power plants (NPPs). In this study, the performance and cost of various conceptual nuclear-DAC systems are assessed, and their performance is compared with several non-nuclear options. Three nuclear-DAC systems are considered: (1) a liquid solvent direct air capture (L-DAC) system with heat supplied from natural gas (NG) and electricity supplied by an NPP, (2) an electrified L-DAC system, fully powered by electricity from an NPP, and (3) a solid sorbent direct air capture (S-DAC) system utilizing both heat and electricity generated by an NPP. Two nuclear technologies are considered: a pressurized water reactor and a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Under the medium conservatism scenario, the levelized cost of direct air capture (LCOD) for these systems range from $\$$310/tCO 2 to $\$$525/tCO 2 with the L-DAC system having an NG heat supply at the lower end of the range, and the electrified L-DAC system and the S-DAC system at the higher end of the range. Coupling with nuclear energy led to a 21 % reduction in LCOD for the L-DAC system with NG heat supply and a 29 % reduction for the S-DAC system when compared to fully NG-powered options. When powering the DAC system with grid electricity, the LCOD is highly dependent on the assumed electricity price and carbon intensity. The nuclear option is the cheaper choice when the price of low-carbon grid electricity exceeds $\$$95/MWh and $\$$45/MWh for the L-DAC and S-DAC systems, respectively.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗