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

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Technology Applicable to Remote Hazardous Constituents and Waste Stream Grouping

Originally, Rocky Flats transuranic (TRU) waste was managed from waste streams that were composed of similar chemical constituents and were generated from identical processes. Early waste processing at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) maintained the Rocky Flats record until INL began generating their own item description codes (IDCs). Ultimately TRU waste management at INL was driven to combine wastes from all IDCs that were assigned by Rocky Flats to a summary category group regardless of whether the chemical constituents in the waste were known or not. At this point, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) certified program requirements to process the TRU waste according to waste streams was nearly eliminated. In April 2018, operations in the Sludge Repackage Project (SRP) area were halted by a radiological materials release accident in which drums containing waste experienced a loss of containment after over-pressurization occurred. Four SRP drums, repackaged in the Accelerated Retrieval Project (ARP) V area, had an adverse, delayed chemical reaction event occur when prohibited materials from one container were mixed with chemically-incompatible materials from other containers in the repackaging process. This incident was the direct result of processing unknowns under a protocol where the components of the waste were added to incompatible materials resulting in a run-away reaction. After a Difficult Waste Team (DWT) and Los Alamos National Laboratory – Carlsbad Operations (LANL-CO) subject matter expert (SME) visit in September 2019, it was determined by the team that all of the work observed on the September visit was performed upstream of the certified program and that the Visual Examination (VE) and other methods typically used by the certified program were being used for Acceptable Knowledge (AK) augmentation. This augmentation was needed in order to determine what the constituents in the waste might be, and is based primarily on collections of VE results. The waste at INL that is being processed in what is considered to be the Priority 2 (yellow) and Priority 3 (red) lists either needs AK to be completed before certified characterization can occur or is waiting to be processed because the waste has been mixed with unknown wastes resulting in a lack of information that could have impact of the ability to certify and ship the waste to the WIPP.

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DOE OSTI2020

Project Plan: Salt in Situ Heater Test

This project plan gives a high-level description of the US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition (SFWD) campaign in situ borehole heater test project planned for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, titled the Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS). BATS is the first stage in a planned sequence of tests to bolster the technical basis for disposal of heat generating waste in salt. This plan provides an overview of the schedule and responsibilities of the parties involved. This project is a collaborative effort by Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories to execute a series of small-diameter borehole heater tests in salt for the DOE-NE SFWD campaign. Design of a heater test in salt at WIPP has evolved over several years. The experiment has begun in January 2020 and the first phase will continue for several months with the possibility for follow on testing. BATS comprises a suite of modular tests, which consist of a group of adjacent horizontal boreholes in the wall of drifts at WIPP. Each test is centered around a packer-isolated heated borehole (12.2 cm [4.81 diameter) containing equipment for water-vapor collection and borehole closure monitoring, surrounded by smaller-diameter (up to 5.3 cm [2.11 diameter) satellite observation boreholes. Observation boreholes contain grouted-in temperature sensors, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) sensors, and fiber optics; packer-isolated tracer release and sampling intervals; and acoustic emission (AE) piezoelectric sensors. A larger-diameter (12.2 cm [4.81) satellite borehole includes sorel and salt cement plugs, as part of an engineered barrier sealing test. The first two tests, to be implemented in parallel, are heated (target borehole wall temperature of 120 °C) and unheated, with similar arrays of observation borehole monitoring changes. Follow-on tests will be designed using information gathered from the first two tests, and may be conducted at other borehole wall temperatures, use multiple observation boreholes, and may include different measurement types and test designs. This 2020 update of the original 2018 project plan satisfies DOE-NE Spent Fuel and Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) milestone M3SF-205N010303034, as part of the SNL "Salt Disposal R&D" work package.

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DOE OSTI2020

An Integrated Multiscale Experimental-Numerical Analysis on Reconsolidation of Salt-Clay Mixture for Disposal of Heat-Generating Waste (Final NEUP Technical Report)

The overall purpose of this research is to improve understanding of THMC coupling effect on the reconsolidation of granular (or crushed) salt-clay mixture used for seal systems of shafts and drifts in salt repositories. This proposed work is partially motivated by the recent work on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) that shows the promising sealing capability of clay-salt mixture compared to crushed salt. In particular, primary emphasis is to develop a fully integrated multiscale experiment-numerical study to determine and explain what leads to the superior sealing ability of the clay-salt mixture. These research activities are designed to seek further understanding of (1) why clay additives may enhance the fluid trapping and (2) whether this flow barrier effect may prevail under different combinations of temperature, confining pressure, deviatoric stress and other foreseeable environmental factors. If successful, this enhanced flow trapping ability of the seal provides significant improvement to the seal and repository performance and therefore make the repository safer in the long-term. The experiment component includes microstructural investigation and macroscopic tests on a reconsolidated salt-clay mixture. In the microstructural study, the goal is to (1) characterize microscopic distributions of distinct phases (e.g., clay, salt crystal boundaries, trapped brine, and pore) to examine the connectivity of the pore network inside the salt-clay mixture with different amounts of clay additive and moisture content and (2) analyze multiscale imaging data to reconstruct the polycrystalline microstructures for numerical simulations. Meanwhile, macroscopic tests are performed to analyze how clay alters the failure/creep mechanisms in the salt-clay mixture. Microscopic and macroscopic experimental observations will both be used to calibrate and validate a multiscale model that explicitly simulates the capillary and multiphase flow in the connected pores and the deformation due to the presence of intra-crystalline brine at the pore scale via a new polyhedral discrete element–lattice Boltzmann method (DEM-LBM) coupling model. The pore-scale simulations are homogenized via an upscaling procedure that converts pore-scale information (e.g. force exerted on grain boundary, sliding, pressure-solution) to continuum measures (e.g. Cauchy stress, Darcy’s flow) at each integration point in the macroscopic multiphase TMHC model. This multiscale scheme will allow coupling be- tween high-fidelity simulations of brine-salt-clay interaction and the macroscopic TMHC model. The multiscale model helps the understanding of how the trapped brine inclusion affects the pressure-solution mechanism with the presence of clay and moisture. This work brings new insight into the sealing capacity of salt-clay mixture under elevated temperature over a long period of time - a key to evaluating the potential of salt-clay mixture usage for salt repositories.

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DOE OSTI2020

Solidification of REDC Organics and Airborne Release Fraction Measurements

The Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC) generates various liquid organic wastes from processing irradiated targets to recover heavy elements. In the past, these organics were discharged to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) liquid low-level waste (LLLW) system, along with the aqueous waste. Because of a reduction in aqueous LLLW from other ORNL generators and an increase in the radionuclide concentration, particularly 238 Pu, in the organic waste stream, the organics can no longer be discharged to the LLLW system. The plan is to solidify the liquid organic waste for disposal as solid debris waste. The documented safety analysis for REDC uses an airborne release fraction of 5 x 10 -4 with a respirable fraction of 0.2 for plutonium and other actinides from packaged solid debris waste during a fire scenario, for an overall airborne release fraction/respirable fraction of 10 -4 . Solidifying the organic liquids, either by using PM-199 Organoclay ® or by grouting, would produce solid waste forms with no free liquid, which should qualify for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The use of Organoclay would be much simpler to implement inside a hot cell. Granular Organoclay can be added to the organic waste solutions until there is a dry layer on top of the liquid and then allowed to cure for a few hours. Grouting the liquids would require using multiple ingredients and mixing steps. Both methods produced waste forms that trapped cerium, as a surrogate for plutonium, inside the waste, with airborne release fractions during fire scenario tests of well below the 10 -4 limit.

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DOE OSTI2020

DECOVALEX-2023 Task E Specification (Rev. 0)

This report is the Task E specification (Revision 0) for DECOVALEX-2023. Task E is focused on understanding thermal, hydrological, mechanical and chemical (THMC) processes, especially related to predicting brine migration in heated salt. The main test case being used is the ongoing Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) heater test located underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. This report provides short motivational background, a summary of relevant experiments and data, and a step-by-step plan for the analysis by the teams participating in Task E (Rev. 0 includes detailed description of steps 0 and 1). This document will be revised, and more detail will be added to later steps during DECOVALEX-2023.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Gen3CSP sCO2 Loop Scope of Supply (V0.0.3)

The Generation 3 Concentrating Solar Power (Gen3CSP) supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) coolant loop, typically referred to here as the `sCO 2 loop,' is designed to continuously remove heat from a primary heat exchanger (PHX) subsystem through a flow of sCO 2 as a substitute for a sCO 2 Brayton power cycle as shown in Figure 1-1. This system is designed to function as a pumped coolant loop operating at a high baseline pressure with a high degree of flexibility, stability, and autonomy to simplify operation of a Gen3CSP Topic 1 team Phase 3 pilot plant. The complete system includes a dedicated inventory management module to fill the main flow loop with CO2 and recovery CO2 during heating and venting operations to minimize the delivery of CO2 to the site.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

2020 LANL Contributions to the BATS Test in WIPP

The DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) repository research and development program seeks to provide a sound technical basis for multiple viable disposal options, increase confidence in the robustness of generic disposal concepts, and develop science and engineering tools needed to support disposal concept implementation. Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Berkeley National labs are conducting research into salt, which includes the Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) field test at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a DOE Office of Environmental Management facility. BATS is leveraging the existing infrastructure associated with the WIPP to advance science informing generic disposal concepts. BATS is an ongoing heated borehole experiment being conducted in the WIPP underground. The goal of this experiment is to reduce the uncertainty associated with spent nuclear fuel disposition in geologic salt formations. The BATS experiments is designed to accomplish this by increasing our understanding of brine migration in salt, assessing damaged zones from mining and drilling, simulating a post-closure environment, confirming salt properties, and providing data for model validation. Phased testing for generic salt repository R&D was proposed in 2015. Subsequently, borehole thermal testing was developed as a first step in this process. This document summarizes the work conducted on the BATS experiment during fiscal year 2020 with an emphasis on the contributions by Los Alamos National Lab.

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DOE OSTI2024

FIU Project 2: Environmental Remediation Science & Technology [Slides]

FIU’s research under this project involves conducting basic and applied science to fill knowledge gaps and validate potential remediation technologies for contaminated soil and groundwater and the assessment of the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment. The aim of FIU’s research is to reduce the potential for contaminant mobility or toxicity in the surface and subsurface through the development and application of state-of-the-art scientific and environmental remediation technologies at the Hanford Site, Savannah River Site (SRS), and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), which is the Nation’s only mined geologic repository for permanent disposal of transuranic waste. FIU collaborates with scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the DOE Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) in order to plan and execute research that is synergistic with the work being conducted at the sites, and that supports the resolution of critical science and engineering needs which leads to a better understanding of the long-term behavior of subsurface contaminants. The knowledge gained through this research will be used to transform experimental and modeling innovations into practical applications deployed at the sites to support EM’s primary goal of expediting the closure of major contaminated soil and groundwater sites and waste units. Collaborative relationships between FIU and the national laboratories have provided large benefits over the years to FIU, the national laboratories, the DOE complex, and the DOE EM mission. By working closely with the national laboratories, FIU’s research is not only closely aligned with the cleanup mission priorities at the DOE sites, but complements and supports ongoing work at the national laboratories for screening of new remedial technologies. This coordination and leveraging of research efforts results in time- and cost-savings, and will accelerate progress of the DOE EM environmental restoration mission.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Summary Report for the NEPA Impact Analysis. Revision 1

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located in southeastern New Mexico, has been developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the geologic (deep underground) disposal of defense-related transuranic (TRU) waste. Containment of TRU waste at the WIPP facility is derived from standards set forth in Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 191. The DOE assesses compliance with the containment standards according to the Certification Criteria in Title 40 CFR Part 194 by means of Performance Assessment (PA) calculations performed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). WIPP PA calculations estimate the probability of radionuclide releases from the repository to the accessible environment for a regulatory period of 10,000 years after facility closure. The DOE Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) has initiated a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) action for a proposal to excavate and use additional transuranic (TRU) waste disposal panels at the WIPP facility. This report documents an analysis undertaken as part of an effort to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of the proposed action. Although not explicitly required for a NEPA analysis, evaluations of a dose indicator to hypothetical members of the public after final facility closure are presented in this report. The analysis is carried out in two stages: first, Performance Assessment (PA) calculations quantify the potential releases to the accessible environment over a 10,000-year post-closure period. Second, dose was evaluated for three hypothetical exposure pathways using the conservative radionuclide concentrations assumed to be released to the accessible environment.

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DOE OSTI2020

What's the big deal with TA-55's trash?

There's a beast of hazardous waste, and we're learning how to tame it. Plutonium and production activities are ongoing at TA-55, which means the beast of hazardous waste is always looming around the corner. The Laboratory must dispose of this delicate type of waste properly and swiftly. Learning from previous snags and pitfalls in an incredibly complex process, TA-55 leadership and staff have worked together to greatly improve and streamline waste processes. The result: As of the last week of fiscal year 2020, 42 shipments containing 1,275 containers of transuranic (TRU) waste were sent to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southern New Mexico, the nation’s only repository for defense-generated TRU waste. In FY 2019, we shipped less than half that amount.

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DOE OSTI2020

2020 NEPA Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Risk Assessment

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) operating repository 654 m below the surface in a thick salt formation in southeastern New Mexico. The DOE disposes transuranic (TRU) waste produced from atomic energy defense activities at the WIPP facility. A portion of the waste shipped to the WIPP facility contains TRU radionuclides co-mingled with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which fall under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This report documents the risks of PCBs co-mingled with TRU waste (hereafter designated as PCB/TRU waste) designated for disposal at the WIPP facility. This analysis is input to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) assessment by the DOE Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) for the proposed increase of the WIPP facility disposal area to include additional waste panels (but not to increase the legislated WIPP volume). This analysis is not a compliance calculation to support a certification renewal nor does it support a planned change request (PCR) or planned change notice (PCN) to be submitted to the EPA.

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DOE OSTI2020

Shear Behavior of Artificial Clay Seams within Bedded Salt Structures

Bedded salt contains thin layers of clay, also known as clay seams, in-between far thicker layers of salt. These inhomogeneities are thought to have first-order effects on the closure of nearby drifts and potential roof collapses. Despite their importance, characterizations of the peak shear strength and residual shear strength of clay seams in salt are extremely rare in the published literature. A previous paper reported results from laboratory direct shear experiments on clay seam samples from the Permian Basin in New Mexico. These clay seams behaved similar to intact salt, which was attributed to the abundance of salt crystals intersecting the clay seams. None of those specimens contained a distinct ¼" - ½" (6 -12 mm) thick clay seam, as has been observed in drifts at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Due to the difficulty in obtaining WIPP samples with these types of clay seams, artificial seams of bentonite and brine sandwiched between sections of salt were created and shear tested. Eight 4" diameter samples were created with either a ¼" or ½" a thick seam and then consolidated at 3000 psi prior to shear testing. The direct shear tests on these samples were performed at nominal normal stresses representative of expected WIPP in-situ conditions (500 to 1500 psi). The resulting shear stress vs. shear displacement curves exhibited a peak followed by a gradual decay of shear strength. The shear stress never transitioned to a true residual shear stress plateau, so the final shear strength at the end of each test (0.75" of shear displacement) was analyzed instead. Both the peak shear strength and the final shear strength conformed to Mohr- Coulomb behavior with friction angles and cohesion strengths consistent with a saturated, highly consolidated, clay. These new artificial clay seam results and the previous clay-interspersed-with-salt results likely bound the expected shear behavior of WIPP clay seams.

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DOE OSTI2020

Geology and Design of Major Spent Fuel Repositories

This report summarizes the geology and design concepts of four major spent fuel repositories from around the world. The crystalline rock with bentonite backfill is currently implemented in Finland with another repository being constructed in Sweden. The salt formation design focuses on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) repository in the United States. The volcanic tuff open air design is based on the Yucca Mountain location. The volcanic tuff open air design at Yucca Mountain is only a concept as this repository has not been approved for operations. The last spent fuel repository design, clay/shale formation with backfill, focuses on the Cigeo Project in France, which is also pending.

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DOE OSTI2020

Computational and Experimental Characterization of Intermediate Amorphous Phases in Geological Materials

In the subsurface, MgO engineered barriers are employed at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a transuranic waste repository near Carlsbad, NM. During service, the MgO will be exposed to high concentration brine environments and may form stable intermediate phases that can alter the barriers effectiveness. Here, MgO was aged in water and three different brine solutions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis were performed to identify the formation of secondary phases. After aging, ~4% of the MgO was hydrated and fine-grained powders resulted in greater loss of crystallinity than hard granular grains. 1 H magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra resolved minor phases not visible in XRD, indicating that diverse 1 H environments are present along with Mg(OH) 2 . Density functional theory (DFT) simulations for several proposed Mg-O-H, Mg-CI-O-H, and Na-O-H containing phases were performed to index peaks in the experimental 1 H MAS NMR spectra. While proposed intermediate crystal structures exhibited overlapping 1 H NMR peaks, Mg-O-H intermediates were attributed to the growth of the 1.0-0.0ppm peak while the Mg-CI-O-H structures contributed to the 2.5- 5.0ppm peak in the chloride containing brines. Overall, NMR analysis of aged MgO indicates the formation of a range of possible intermediate structures that cannot be resolved with XRD analysis alone.

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DOE OSTI2020

Systematic Calculation of Pu Pourbaix Diagrams: Modelling Support for the LANL ACRSP Team

The report enclosed entitled “Systematic Calculation of Pu Pourbaix Diagrams: Modelling Support of the LANL ACRSP Team” was prepared by Amphos21 under contract to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Actinide Chemistry and Repository Science Program (ACRSP) team to support an enhanced understanding of the actinide and brine chemistry in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) transuranic repository. In this report, the ThermoChimie chemistry model and database, with some slight modifications, were used to calculate Pourbaix diagrams to investigate the effects of ionic strength, organic complexation, and metal competition on the predominance diagrams for aqueous and solid plutonium species under the anoxic and reducing conditions expected in the repository. These diagrams were connected to iron chemistry phase diagrams since this iron chemistry is expected to define and control redox properties in the WIPP repository concept.

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DOE OSTI2021

G3P3 Phase 3 Project Execution Plan. Issue 1

The National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) at Sandia National Laboratories New Mexico (SNL/NM) developed this Project Execution Plan (PEP) to document its process for executing, monitoring, controlling and closing-out Phase 3 of the Gen 3 Particle Pilot Plant G3P3. This plan serves as a resource for stakeholders who wish to be knowledgeable of project objectives and how they will be accomplished. The plan is intended to be used by the development partners, principal investigator, and the federal project director. Project objectives are derived from the mission needs statement, and an integrated project team assists in development of the PEP. This plan is a living document and will be updated throughout the project to describe current and future processes and procedures. The scope of the PEP covers: Cost, schedule, and scope Project reporting Staffing plan Quality assurance plan Environment, safety, security, and health This document is a tailored approach for the Facilities Management and Operations Center (FMOC) to meet the project management principles of DOE Order 413.3B, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets , and DOE G 413.3-15, DOE Guide for Project Execution Plans. This document will elaborate on content as knowledge of the project is gained or refined.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of the Volatile Species Associated with the K-Area Complex Blend Cans (D5043)

In the K-Area Complex (KAC), blend cans are used to down blend plutonium oxide for future disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The blend can is a thin walled screw lid container that is used to down blend a measured amount of plutonium oxide with adulterant to reduce the attractiveness of the plutonium. The oxide and adulterant are mixed within the blend can and the blend can is packaged into a thick walled outer container. The blend cans are procured from an offsite vendor that uses a lubricant in the can manufacturing process. A thin coating of the lubricant adheres to the outer surface of the blend can and both inner and outer surfaces of the blend can cap.

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DOE OSTI2021

Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) FY21 Update

This report summarizes the 2021 fiscal year (FY21) status of ongoing borehole heater tests in salt funded by the disposal research and development (R&D) program of the Office of Spent Fuel & Waste Science and Technology (SFWST) of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy’s (DOE-NE) Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition (SFWD). This report satisfies SFWST milestone M2SF- 21SN010303052 by summarizing test activities and data collected during FY21. The Brine Availability Test in Salt (BATS) is fielded in a pair of similar arrays of horizontal boreholes in an experimental area at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). One array is heated, the other unheated. Each array consists of 14 boreholes, including a central borehole with gas circulation to measure water production, a cement seal exposure test, thermocouples to measure temperature, electrodes to infer resistivity, a packer-isolated borehole to add tracers, fiber optics to measure temperature and strain, and piezoelectric transducers to measure acoustic emissions. The key new data collected during FY21 include a series of gas tracer tests (BATS phase 1b), a pair of liquid tracer tests (BATS phase 1c), and data collected under ambient conditions (including a period with limited access due to the ongoing pandemic) since BATS phase 1a in 2020. A comparison of heated and unheated gas tracer test results clearly shows a decrease in permeability of the salt upon heating (i.e., thermal expansion closes fractures, which reduces permeability).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗