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DOE OSTI2022

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Technologies for Advanced Reactors (Workshop Summary Report)

A workshop on artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) for advanced reactors (AR) was held October 5-6, 2021. The workshop was to be attended in-person at ANL but COVID restrictions forced the workshop to go virtual. The objectives of the workshop were to identify the most promising AI/ML opportunities for improving advanced reactor design, optimizing plant performance, and enhancing economic competitiveness and to develop an understanding of the scientific, engineering and licensing challenges facing their application. The workshop planning committee included GAIN, EPRI and NEI and members of three national laboratories (ANL, INL, and ORNL). The workshop was attended by more than 200 individuals representing academic and scientific institutions and the nuclear power industry. The definition put forth for an AI/ML system was one that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of achieving its goals. In this report AI/ML refers to next generation algorithms that include deep learning, statistical analysis and data analytics and associated scientific computing and their potential application to the design, licensing, operation and maintenance of ARs. These methods typically incorporate models built from process data and may also include data generated by simulations that represent the behavior of a system. The workshop was organized in response to the growing interest in application of AI/ML for improving the economic competitiveness of nuclear energy. Increasingly more resources are being allocated to investigating the benefits of AI/ML methods. The DOE created the Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office to promote their development. And within the Office of Nuclear Energy, resources have been allocated to explore and understand the potential benefits of AI/ML. Additionally, the national laboratories are strategically positioned with DOE computing facilities such as Summit, Perlmutter, Aurora and Frontier that support large-scale simulations, hybrid HPC models with AI surrogates, and the exploration of new types of generative models emerging from multi-model data streams and sources. The workshop was organized with members of the AR community to understand the effort and to identify the level of interest and progress in this emerging technology. The workshop discussions focused on identifying opportunities for AI/ML across diverse areas of the nuclear industry and identifying current scientific and engineering challenges for advanced reactors that might be addressed through transformational uses of AI/ML. Discussion panels focused on four high-interest technical domains for advanced reactors: design, maintenance and operations, energy storage, and materials. The results of those discussions are summarized in this report. This includes opportunities that were identified for exploiting AI techniques and methods to improve the efficacy and efficiency of reactor analysis and to improve the operation and optimization of advanced reactors. Advanced reactor developers expressed an interest in learning more about AI/ML methods and their application. This included understanding whether ML methods can provide an advantage over existing nonlinear data regression methods for collapsing high-fidelity simulation results into faster running models. A consensus emerged that AR advances planned for the next decade will benefit from the use of AI/ML tools. The need exists to understand and model complex systems across length scales and modalities. AI/ML is a tool for discovery that can yield a set of engineering principles for use by nuclear engineers, licensing bodies, and operators to solve problems in plant design, safety analyses, autonomous operation, and predictive maintenance. While AI/ML represents a new set of tools, an awareness by the nuclear community of the full potential is still in the early stages so there is a need to increase awareness. It appears that the wide-spread adoption of AI/ML tools for ARs would be facilitated by future educational workshops that describe foundational methods and capabilities and describe successful applications.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy Leasing Areas for Humboldt and Morro Bay Wind Energy Areas, California

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is providing scientific and technical services to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) under an interagency agreement. The purpose of this report is to provide technical assistance in delineating potential lease areas from the California wind energy areas (WEAs) that can be competitively auctioned to wind energy developers. Each wind energy area is presumed to be technically and economically feasible for wind energy development based on the economic cost study performed by NREL in 2020. The subsequent analysis summarized in this report is intended to help BOEM maximize efficient offshore wind energy resource use and ensure fair return to the Government for use of the lease areas, by making recommendations for viable ways to divide the WEAs into auctionable commercial lease areas of approximately equal value. We considered several factors that affect the value of lease areas for wind energy development, including mean wind speeds, water depth, seafloor gradient, seismicity, hard substrate, and access to infrastructure. The largest impact to generating capacity came from the choice of mooring technology and the resulting setback from the lease area boundaries. Based on our setback assumptions, the generating capacity for a wind plant using catenary moorings could be nearly 30% less than with vertical moorings in Humboldt, or approximately 20% less in Morro Bay. The likely range of generating capacity is 1.5 to 3 GW in Humboldt and 3 to 5 GW in Morro Bay.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Reversible Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems for Energy Storage and Hydrogen Production

FuelCell Energy (FCE) studied the performance, design, and economics of a reversible solid-oxide fuel cell/electrolyzer integrated with a natural gas-based electricity generation plant and used as an energy storage system. Increased market penetration of renewable energy is challenging for operators of fossilbased plants which are not suited for quick turndown and ramp-up. Process simulations studies show that with utilization of waste heat from the power plant, a high roundtrip efficiency (RTE) around 70% is possible, providing excellent market potential for this energy storage technology, potentially providing improved economics and lifetime for such power plant. The market potential and economics as a function of production volume are analyzed in detail. FCE is continuing the development and commercialization of its solid oxide technology.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2022

Low Regeneration Temperature Sorbents for Direct Air Capture of CO 2

Susteon Inc., in partnership with University of Wyoming and SoCalGas, successfully met all major technical objectives to (1) scale up the ionic liquid catalyst for amine-based sorbents for improved desorption and absorption kinetics, (2) evaluate the catalyzed amine-based sorbents for direct CO 2 capture process to determine CO 2 adsorption and desorption rates and energy requirements, and (3) based on the experimental results, develop a conceptual process design to perform a preliminary economic assessment to evaluate the potential for DAC process cost reduction using the catalyzed sorbents. Amine doped solid sorbents are effective for DAC applications and can be regenerated by heat or by a combination of heat, steam, and vacuum. The best sorbent composition identified was polyethyleneimine (PEI) on fumed silica with 200 ppm ionic liquid catalyst. This sorbent formulation was shown to have a CO 2 breakthrough capacity twice that of the non-catalyzed sorbent, in laboratory tests with air at 75% relative humidity (RH). The CO 2 adsorption rate was also 40% higher than that of the non-catalyzed sorbent. This type of sorbents has the attributes required for lowering the overall cost of DAC with high CO 2 capacity and high rate of adsorption. The combination of an industrially utilized amine-based sorbent with a highly active catalyst to form a new class of materials for DAC provides a technically viable pathway for reducing the cost of DAC to <$100/tonne of CO 2 . Laboratory measurements show that the silica/PEI (polyethyleneimine) sorbents with 100 ppm of ionic liquid catalyst have almost 100% higher CO 2 cyclic capacity and 40% higher adsorption rate. Generally, CO 2 desorption occurred at higher temperatures with a rate of desorption 10 times faster than adsorption (which occurred at ambient conditions). Therefore, adsorption rate is a much more important factor in the cost of DAC because it is directly linked to the CAPEX of the total system and the cycle time (i.e., sorbent productivity in ton/day of CO 2 captured per unit volume of the air contactor). An initial process design, coupled with techno-economic analysis, based on optimal experimental results and preliminary resulting from structured sorbent testing, showed a path to lower the DAC cost from the current cost of over $200/tonne CO 2 to less than $100/tonne with a scale-up, mature state of the technology, with projected material and process improvements. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the catalyst in silica/PEI sorbents in enhancing sorbents’ CO 2 working capacity, in (a) increasing the rate of adsorption and desorption, and (b) in lowering the CAPEX and OPEX of the DAC system employing the ionic liquid catalyzed sorbents.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2021

Pumped-Storage Hydropower using Abandoned Underground Mines (PSH-AUM) as an Innovative Energy Storage Technology for Fossil-Integrated Systems

Pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) provides around 95% of all utility-scale energy storage in the U.S. and globally. Additional deployment of PSH is hampered by excessively long permitting and commissioning requirements and is constrained to locations for which natural topography provides suitable elevation relief between the upper and lower reservoirs (the ΔH challenge). The purpose of this research was to evaluate Pumped-Storage Hydropower using Abandoned Underground Mines (PSH-AUM) as a means to solve the ΔH challenge and initiate the commercialization pathway for a promising new energy storage technology. Four primary tasks were conducted: Screening and ranking of candidate sites for project development; multiphase reservoir modeling to evaluate mine performance; techno-economic analysis and preliminary designs for PSH-AUM systems integrated with fossil-fuel power units; and stakeholder engagement to identify pathways to commercialization of this new technology. Key results were achieved in each of the four primary tasks. Candidate site screening determined that nearly 10,000 underground mines were spatially locatable, of which more than 100 sites appear suitable for integration with existing fossil power plants that are expected to remain in longer-term operation. Mine reservoir models were developed using PNNL’s STOMP simulator and parameterized using candidate site data to evaluate interactions with the surrounding groundwater system and confirm the potential for some mines to accommodate inflows and outflows on the order of 100 m3/s over 8-hour durations (1.6 GWh system) without excessive aqueous pressures. Techno-economic analysis resulted in a project cost optimization scheme to identify key sensitivities and the development of preliminary designs that can minimize overall costs of deployment. Finally, stakeholder engagement with industry, state government, and local economic development leaders confirmed the viability of PSH-AUM as a promising new technology. Our Phase I project results suggest that PSH-AUM technology has a domestic market potential on the order of $100+ Billion with ample space for technology development to commercialization within the next decade.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Direct Air Capture of CO 2 and Delivery to Photobioreactors for Algal Biofuel Production (Final Report)

A mobile DAC system was designed and constructed to pair with photobioreactors growing algae for biofuel production. The DAC system was designed as a versatile research system, rather than a compact production unit. The system was constructed and mounted on a mobile skid to facilitate transportation to the algae production site. Within the DAC system, CO 2 was captured using amine-loaded monoliths that allow for high CO 2 uptake with low pressure drop. The CO 2 is collected using a Global Thermostat patented temperature/vacuum swing adsorption (TVSA) process. Amine sorbents and process conditions were optimized to produce 10 to >20 g CO 2 .h-1. The stability of the amine sorbents was also studied, with sorbent modifications made to improve stability to degradation by oxidation. An Algenol-developed Spirulina strain (Arthrospira platensis AB2293) was selected as the production cyanobacterial strain. AB2293 cultured was inoculum for outdoor production following PBR installation by Algenol. The PBR system was composed of three independent PBRs, with each PBR composed of four hanging bags internally recirculated by a liquid turnover pump. The PBRs were operated outdoors in Atlanta, GA, and integrated with the DAC system. Algae were grown with similar productivity using DAC-CO 2 as algae grown using pure CO 2 obtained commercially (Airgas). Throughout the experimental duration, no discoloration was observed, and cellular morphology was consistent between the two experimental treatments. An LCA including lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, full life cycle inventory of the Algenol system and the DAC system and integrated DAC+PBR system was developed. Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions were calculated for capture of carbon dioxide using input from Global Thermostat and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Three scenarios for energy provision were evaluated: a natural gas combined heat and power system sized to meet the electricity requirement, a natural gas combined heat and power system sized to meet the process heat requirements, and a system without on-site power that procures the electricity from the grid. In all three cases, as expected, the major contributor to the emissions is the energy consumption associated with the desorption step of the DAC process. The LCA quantified the reduced potential energy and greenhouse gas emissions of heat and mass integration of DAC and Algenol compared to unintegrated DAC and Algenol systems. A life cycle assessment of the role of sorbent productivity and lifetime was also developed. The development of more robust, oxidation resistant DAC sorbents may enable small reductions in energy requirements and in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. NREL performed techno-economic analysis (TEA) to identify the integration scenario most likely to achieve a 15% cost reduction target versus the baseline. Heat and mass integration of DAC and the PBR is critical to minimizing the MFSP. The baseline case utilizes no heat and mass integration, and the DAC system provides 100% of the CO 2 required by the photobioreactors (20 tonnes/hr), operating for 12 hours/day capturing 40 tonnes CO 2 /operating hour. The minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of ethanol calculated from the baseline case was $10.68/gal ethanol. This corresponds with a targeted MFSP of $9.07/gal ethanol (or 15% reduction). This target was achieved by integration Option 2a with the greatest cost reduction of 17.8% (or $8.78/gal) and integration Option 2b with a cost reduction of 16.4% (or $8.93/gal). Reductions in MFSP are attributed to two primary process considerations: (a) CO 2 storage at night reduces the capital expenses associated with DAC (i.e., increasing on-stream time); and (b) distributed DAC scenarios (DAC-PBR integration Options 2a and 2b) make use of boiler and DAC CHP flue gas CO 2 (free). Direct air capture on-stream time was one of the largest contributors to MFSP reduction.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Biomass Gasification for Chemicals Production Using Chemical Looping Techniques (Final Report)

The Ohio State University (OSU) is investigating the Biomass to Syngas (BTS) chemical looping technology to produce syngas for chemical production applications from biomass under US Department of Energy (DOE) Award #DE-EE0007530. The BTS process aligns with the programmatic area of interest of “Conversion, via biological, thermal, catalytic or chemical means, of acceptable feedstocks into advanced biofuels and/or biobased products including intermediate and end-use products”. Compared to conventional biomass gasification processes, the BTS process eliminates the need for air separation units and tar reforming reactors, which leads to energy efficiency improvement and capital cost reduction. The overall objective is to ascertain the potential of biomass gasification based on the chemical looping technique through mitigation of the possible techno-economic challenges in the steps of scale up for commercialization. The scope of work consists of 1) designing, constructing and operating a 10 kWth commercially scalable sub-pilot BTS system and; 2) completing a comprehensive techno-economic analysis (TEA) of the BTS process using methanol production as an example. Over the course of the project, the project team completed the design, fabrication, and operation of a 10 kWth sub-pilot scale test unit for the BTS process. Corn cob and wood pellets were successfully tested in the unit for high purity syngas generation in extended test campaigns that totals over 200 hours. Syngas purity (H2 and CO) of >70% was achieved with a CH 4 concentration of <6%. The H 2 /CO ratio was greater than 1.8. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis was performed to compare the BTS process and a reference indirectly heated gasification process for methanol synthesis. The result, updated with experimental results for BTS process performance, shows a methanol required selling price (MSP) of $\$ $1.15/gal, compared to $1.28/gal for the reference case.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2024

The HyRIGHT Project: 700 bar Hydrogen Refueling Interface for Gaseous Heavy-Duty Trucks

Heavy duty truck fueling places additional constraints on the station. The HyRIGHT project was developed to evaluate a subset of key areas around precooling, communications, and safety risks that aims to:  Utilize a dynamic model that includes the relevant station components and vehicle to develop an optimized precooling strategy based on initial precooling status, real time communications that can support fueling protocol development.  Perform a techno economic cost assessment (TEA) related to effects of precooling including station storage and efficiency effects.  Develop a Cyber Vulnerability assessment and framework for refueling of HD vehicles with station communications.  Disseminate the results in support of the HD fueling protocol development to the relevant standards development organizations.

JAMES, Charles W.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Roadmap for IES Modeling and Simulation Activities: Update 2023

Since inception of the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program, several program and modeling visions and roadmaps have been published. In 2020, a last comprehensive roadmap for the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems program was published. In 2017, a separate modeling and simulation capability development plan was published that was extensively updated in 2022. The current report incrementally updates the 2022 modeling and simulation capability roadmap. This is not a new report, but individual sections have been updated to reflect recent accomplishments and new directions of the program. The role of modeling and simulation within IES is to support the demonstration of new coupled integrated technologies along every step of the technology maturation from the strategic analysis of preferred system architecture to preliminary design, to laboratory testing, up to full commercial testing and integration. To achieve this role, modeling and simulation must be able to assess the technical performance and the economic viability of potential IES. Also, modeling and simulation must provide support for experimental evaluations (i.e., support component design and real-time operations of experimental demonstration systems). Finally, modeling and simulation can help scale-up experimental systems to the final commercial systems. This report details the current state of the modeling and simulation efforts within IES for the above-mentioned areas, provides a gap analysis, and proposes next steps for a time horizon over the next years.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2024

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Integrated Energy Systems: Advanced Nuclear Plants with Thermal Storage for Dynamic and Flexible Operation in Diverse Markets

Energy supply, distribution, and demand are continuously evolving in accordance with the integration of new power generation sources. In the United States, there is a progressive shift toward incorporating fluctuating energy sources such as wind and solar into the energy mix, alongside the distributed generation. Simultaneously, we are seeing a revolution in consumer technologies such as electric vehicles, energy devices for both residential and commercial use, and industrial processes—all contributing to a fundamental change in energy consumption dynamics. These scenarios have led to huge demand for enhanced flexibility from nuclear power plants (NPPs), requiring them to operate with unprecedented adaptability. Furthermore, advanced NPPs (A-NPPs) could potentially apply to scenarios in which power generation flexibility is prioritized over its current and conventional baseload generation capacity for traditional demand patterns. The present work covers several configurations for coupling nuclear energy production with thermal energy storage (TES). Previous work evaluated systems entailing a simple nuclear-TES configuration that used steam as a heat source for the TES of three different advanced reactors (ARs), but its heat diversion ratio (HDR) for charging was limited. The present work proposes a new configuration that features full decoupling of the nuclear reactor and the power cycle, using reactor coolant (i.e., gas) as a heat source for the TES and offering a theoretically unlimited HDR. This configuration is, however, more complex, as both high- and low-temperature TES (HT-TES and LT-TES) systems are required in order to cover the extended temperature range. Although this configuration imposes certain limitations on the discharge system configuration, it also presents the opportunity to design a more efficient system. For this case in particular, a steam reheat cycle is advantageous. Conventional TES systems take advantage of nominal efficiency when discharging, whereas the reheat cycle in the fully decoupled TES system affords a significant efficiency increase over conventional cases. Material selection, component/equipment sizing, and costing analyses were performed, followed by economic dispatch and size optimization. Dynamic models were developed for the decoupled system in order to generate insights into aspects of off design operation (e.g., drops in cycle efficiency), and these models enable exploration of potential mitigation strategies for addressing such drops. The models also highlight the need to design fail-safes that ensure continuous operational stability and minimize the impact of power ramping on the reactor parameters.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2025

ROTA-CAP™: An Intensified Carbon Capture System Using Rotating Packed Beds (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

GTI Energy and Carbon Clean Solutions Limited successfully designed, constructed, and operated an integrated ROTA-CAP carbon capture skid. ROTA-CAP™ is a process intensification technology, applied for post-combustion carbon capture, which utilizes the centrifugal forces generated from rotation of rotating packed beds as well as advanced solvents to achieve increased mass transfer rates 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than conventional columns while substantially decreasing footprint. The test skid, which consisted of a dual stage RPB absorber with external interstage cooling and a single stage RPB regenerator, was operated at capacities up to 0.5 tonne/day of CO 2 capture with flue gas concentrations ranging from 4% to 22% CO 2 by vol. CO 2 removal rates greater than 95% were achieved, with CO 2 product purity also exceeding 95% by vol. Over 1,600 hours of operation were accumulated throughout the project, including over 1,000 hours of operation of the with real flue gas containing at least 9.8% CO 2 by vol. The skid was operated continuously for 24 hours per day and 7 days per week over the course of 7 long-term test campaigns, with the campaigns ranging from approximately 2-4 weeks per campaign. A techno-economic analysis was performed, and a cost of capture of $\$$41.18/tonne CO 2 was calculated for the ROTA-CAP process, compared to $\$$45.75/tonne for a Cansolv-based process. These results show a cost reduction of approximately 10% compared to the Cansolv-based process. Although this still exceeds the target cost of capture of $\$$30/tonne specified for this project, GTI expects that the cost of capture can be further reduced through further optimization of the design and technology. GTI also performed an engineering design review to determine the scale-up potential of the technology, with the results of the preliminary assessment indicating that it appears to be feasible to scale up the RPB technology to 4,000 TPD. It was also determined that both horizontal and vertical rotor orientations are feasible, though there are mechanical advantages to the vertical orientation.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Grid Interactive Micro-Distributed Display Case

The goal of this project is to design, fabricate and validate the performance of an economically viable next-generation self-contained, refrigerated open vertical display case with integrated thermal storage that improves energy efficiency, enhances demand flexibility, uses an environmentally friendly refrigerant, improves human comfort

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Williston Basin Resource Study for Commercial-Scale Subsurface Hydrogen Storage

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the EERC’s State Energy Research Center (SERC), MPLX Operations LLC, and TC Energy Development Holdings Inc. (a subsidiary of TC Energy Corporation), studied the potential for subsurface hydrogen storage and recovery in the Williston Basin of western North Dakota. The project’s goal was to evaluate the feasibility of large-scale, secure geologic H 2 storage to support future hydrogen generation, storage, and use. This work included laboratory testing, H 2 –rock–fluid exposure experiments, literature reviews on H 2 embrittlement, and reservoir modeling and simulations. The study included an assessment of storage potential across three types of storage reservoirs using both reservoir simulation and DOE’s web-based tool SHASTA-HELP (Subsurface Hydrogen Assessment, Storage, and Technology Acceleration – Hydrogen Estimator for Logistical Planning), as well as investigation of potential H 2 production and markets for commercial-scale deployment. Building on prior EERC gas storage research, three storage options were selected for detailed evaluation: the Broom Creek Formation (a clastic saline reservoir), the Dickinson Lodgepole Mounds (DLM) complex (carbonate mud mound structures) of the Lodgepole Formation (an active oil and gas producing reservoir), and the Dunham Salt Interval of the Piper Formation (to be used for engineered salt cavern development). These targets were prioritized based on prior EERC research using datasets related to seal capacity, reservoir quality, mechanical integrity, and injectivity. Exposure tests on Broom Creek and DLM samples showed mineral dissolution and precipitation that increased brine salinity and altered reservoir rock surfaces. Although these results provide useful insight, they are limited by small sample sizes and short-term (30-day) exposure, requiring further study to assess long-term storage integrity. Salt formations were not tested because of their known nonreactivity and established mechanical stability. Results of reservoir simulations performed for a single site demonstrated that the Broom Creek Formation may be capable of receiving up to 42,000 tonnes of injected H 2 over 7 months via one well. H 2 recovery took place over 5 months, resulting in approximately 26,000 tonnes (~62% without cushion gas [CG]). This work suggests water production may be important and subsequent cycles of injection and production may perform more efficiently; however, significant site-specific work in the future is needed to assess actual reservoir performance of injection and withdrawal of H 2 storage. For oil reservoir potential, a multiple-well model was used to simulate injection of approximately 32,000 tonnes of H 2 into a single wellbore while simultaneously producing in place reservoir fluids from four offset wells to maintain reservoir pressure. The simulation results suggested a high recovery (~98%); in addition, cost advantages through existing infrastructure could be realized. Challenges in this reservoir include vi managing gas purity and leakage risks. In both scenarios, production of H 2 takes place in a single-well scenario with 10 cycles (7 months of injection and 5 months of production) over 10 years. Finally, the use of engineered caverns in the Dunhan Salt was evaluated, and the results suggest that while they have a smaller capacity (<1000 tonnes per cavern), they exhibit nearly complete gas recovery (>99%), fast response times, and low purity risk. While caverns in North Dakota may be smaller in capacity, fields can be developed in galleries to accommodate the volumetric needs and rapid turnaround times necessary to meet market demands. Geographic limitations and thin salt intervals in North Dakota may represent less total storage potential than salt domes elsewhere, but significant opportunities exist to expand this market for gas storage in North Dakota. A basinwide assessment was performed to estimate a first-of-its-kind value for H 2 storage on a large scale. DOE’s SHASTA-HELP, combined with EERC simulation work, was used to perform the assessment. Estimated H 2 storage potential varied widely for each formation type. The Broom Creek saline formation was estimated to have a storage potential of approximately 1.7–90.5 million tonnes (MMt). The DLM oil reservoirs were estimated to have 0.07–0.19 MMt of capacity. Notably, each of these estimates relies on significant assumptions regarding reservoir thickness, porosity, permeability, and CG needed for operation. Much research is needed to understand the true site-specific storage resource potential of each formation. Using the Dunham Salt Interval for cavern development may result in as much as 4.79 MMt (up to 2.87 MMt working gas) of H 2 storage potential. An important note for consideration is that the values presented here need significantly more geological characterization and engineering assessments prior to gaining confidence in performance. This will be a focal point for future research and development needs. The basinwide evaluation also indicated that North Dakota has significant H 2 generation potential, with estimates up to a possible 13 MMt annually, suggesting a substantial opportunity for H 2 market development and thus the need for commercial-scale H 2 storage to facilitate growth and resilience. Key Recommendations 1. Conduct detailed site characterization (3D seismic, well logs, core sampling) to reduce geologic uncertainty. 2. Perform techno-economic analyses incorporating market, regulatory, and incentive frameworks. 3. Investigate long-term interactions among H 2 , CGs, well materials, and formations to assess risks. 4. Develop pilot- and field-scale demonstrations to validate models and establish best practices.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Reassessing Double-Ended Guillotine Break Requirements: Evidence-Based Analysis of Regulatory Assumptions After Five Decades of Nuclear Operation

After five decades of nuclear power operation encompassing more than 20,000 reactor-years across 35 countries and 647 reactors, zero double-ended guillotine breaks (DEGBs) have been documented in commercial reactor coolant systems—despite DEGB being the fundamental design-basis assumption driving Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) sizing, structural protection requirements, and containment design specifications. This report examines the basis for DEGB requirements in nuclear power plant design. The DEGB postulate assumes the instantaneous, complete circumferential severance of the largest diameter pipes in reactor coolant systems, driving major design requirements under 10 Code of Federal Regulations 50.46, General Design Criterion 4 and containment design specifications. The United States (4,880 reactor-years) and France (2,505 reactor-years) contribute the largest operational datasets. Probabilistic assessments estimate direct DEGB occurrence probabilities with extremely low event frequencies, far below the 10-5/reactor-year thresholds typically used to define non-credible events in nuclear-safety analyses; i.e., events with probability this low fall into beyond-design-basis events. Current material-science knowledge demonstrates that the ductile steel materials used in nuclear piping systems exhibit stable crack-growth behavior fundamentally incompatible with instantaneous severance. International regulatory experience, particularly Germany’s comprehensive break-preclusion implementation, and successful leak-before-break (LBB) applications in almost all of U.S. pressurized water reactor units validate that alternatives can maintain safety performance while reducing economic burden. Current DEGB protection systems impose estimated lifetime costs of hundreds of millions of dollars per unit, over the life of a plant across the nuclear industry (including ongoing costs), representing substantial resource allocation toward scenarios with extremely low probability. Although this report acknowledges uncertainties regarding long-term aging effects, potential synergistic degradation mechanisms, and site-specific seismic considerations that warrant continued evaluation as regulatory policy evolves, there remains no documented evidence that a DEGB has occurred as a consequence of the conditions or mechanisms described in this report. This report acknowledges the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) recent efforts—outlined in the draft Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) NRC-DSS-ISG-2025-XX (“Treatment of Certain Loss-of-Coolant Accident Locations as Beyond-Design-Basis Accidents Draft Interim Staff Guidance”)—to reduce overly conservative requirements for large-break loss of coolant accidents through technical justifications and exemptions. However, extensive operating experience and validated methodologies—such as LBB and in-service inspection programs—demonstrate that the probability of a DEGB in reactor coolant-loop piping is extremely low, even under seismic conditions. The authors and reviewers of this report recommend that DEGB be removed as a design-basis event through formal rulemaking, rather than case-by-case exemptions, to better reflect credible failure modes, align with current data, and align with modern, risk-informed safety analysis.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Do We Need a New Sustainability Assessment Method for the Circular Economy? A Critical Literature Review

The goal of the circular economy (CE) is to transition from today's take-make-waste linear pattern of production and consumption to a circular system in which the societal value of products, materials, and resources is maximized over time. Yet circularity in and of itself does not ensure social, economic, and environmental performance (i.e., sustainability). Sustainability of CE strategies needs to be measured against their linear counterparts to identify and avoid strategies that increase circularity yet lead to unintended externalities. The state of the practice in quantitatively comparing sustainability impacts of circular to linear systems is one of experimentation with various extant methods developed in other fields and now applied here. While the proliferation of circularity metrics has received considerable attention, to-date, there is no critical review of the methods and combinations of methods that underlie those metrics and that specifically quantify sustainability impacts of circular strategies. Our critical review herein analyzes identified methods according to six criteria: temporal resolution, scope, data requirements, data granularity, capacity for measuring material efficiency potentials, and sustainability completeness. Results suggest that the industrial ecology and complex systems science fields could prove complementary when assessing the sustainability of the transition to a CE. Both fields include quantitative methods differing primarily with regard to their inclusion of temporal aspects and material efficiency potentials. Moreover, operations research methods such as multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) may alleviate the common contradictions which often exist between circularity metrics. This review concludes by suggesting guidelines for selecting quantitative methods most appropriate to a particular research question and making the argument that while there are a variety of existing methods, additional research is needed to combine existing methods and develop a more holistic approach for assessing sustainability impacts of CE strategies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Critical Literature Review of Quantitative Sustainability Assessment Methods for the Circular Economy

The circular economy (CE) has been proposed to be an operational framework for sustainable development that decouples economic growth from resource consumption. The CE ambition is to maximize the retention of value in products, materials, and resources in the economy over time with the help of CE strategies such as selling a service rather than a product, reusing and repairing products or their components, and recycling. The social, economic, and environmental performances of CE strategies need to be measured against their linear counterparts to avoid strategies that increase circularity but have other unintended externalities. However, there is currently no tool specifically designed to compare circular to linear systems and, thus, various methods from different fields have been applied. This session aims at reviewing, contrasting, and critiquing different methods that have been applied to assess the CE until now, along with an up to date state of the science in this field. Methods from the industrial ecology field have most often been applied to study the CE. However, the transition to CE involves both technological improvements as well as social changes. New business models such as collaborative consumption models (e.g., Uber or Airbnb) are examples of the new patterns of production and consumption of the CE, which may be difficult to analyze from a purely industrial ecology perspective. Methods from complexity science and humanities could therefore complement the industrial ecology perspective to extend the scope of the analysis. Such an approach could also answer a longstanding criticism of the CE which, in contrast with sustainability, solely focuses on the environment and the economy. Moreover, the hybridization of two or more existing methods can yield additional capabilities, which may enable the exploration of additional CE-related research questions. The 90 minutes session will have several presentations and conclude with a moderated, interactive panel discussion on how methods from different fields could be combined to harness their relative strengths.

circular economy↗

DOE OSTI2022

Roadmap for IES Modeling and Simulation Activities

Since inception of the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program, several program and modeling visions and roadmaps have been published. In 2017, the last modeling and simulation capability development plan was published. In 2020, a comprehensive roadmap for the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems program has been published. The current report is meant to update the 2017 modeling and simulation capability roadmap and complement the IES overall program roadmap published in 2020. The role of modeling and simulation within IES is to support the demonstration of new coupled integrated technologies along every step of the technology maturation from the strategic analysis of preferred system architecture to preliminary design, to laboratory testing, up to full commercial testing and integration. To achieve this role, modeling and simulation must be able to assess the technical performance and the economic viability of potential IES. Also, modeling and simulation must provide support for experimental evaluations, i.e., support component design and real time operations of experimental demonstration systems. Finally, modeling and simulation can help scale-up experimental systems to the final commercial systems. This report details the current state of the modeling and simulation efforts within IES for the above-mentioned areas, provides a gap analysis and proposes next steps for a time horizon over the next 4 to 5 years.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Nuclear-Renewable-Storage Systems: Enhancing Planning and Operations of Integrated Energy Systems

Nuclear-renewable-storage integrated energy systems (IES) are multi-carrier energy systems that include not only electricity but also other forms of demands. Because individual IES components must observe their thermo-physical limits, including ramp rates, start-up, and shut-down time, we formulate operations of the IES as an optimization model by minimizing the total operations costs subject to physical limits of all constituent components. In addition, we develop a data-driven approach to improve the computational performance of the economic dispatch model by using reinforcement learning, where an agent is rewarded by meeting demands and penalized otherwise when shifting to the next state.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗