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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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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Preventing Blackouts by Building a Better Power Grid

America’s power grid is undergoing significant change. New mixes of electricity generation, as well as evolving consumer demand, make it even more challenging to manage. Moment-to-moment changes in electricity supply and demand can vary drastically, challenging power grid operators who must maintain a balance—in real time—to avoid disruptions and blackouts. Enter Senior Power Engineer Zhenyu (Henry) Huang. Henry leads PNNL’s initiative to develop technologies that will shape the future of the power grid, and he’s part of a team that is determined to make our nation’s grid more reliable and secure.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Blackout Diffusion: Generative Diffusion Models in Discrete-State Spaces

Typical generative diffusion models rely on a Gaussian diffusion process for training the backward transformations, which can then be used to generate samples from Gaussian noise. However, real world data often takes place in discrete-state spaces, including many scientific applications. Here, we develop a theoretical formulation for arbitrary discrete-state Markov processes in the forward diffusion process using exact (as opposed to variational) analysis. We relate the theory to the existing continuous-state Gaussian diffusion as well as other approaches to discrete diffusion, and identify the corresponding reverse-time stochastic process and score function in the continuous-time setting, and the reverse-time mapping in the discrete-time setting. As an example of this framework, we introduce “Blackout Diffusion”, which learns to produce samples from an empty image instead of from noise. Numerical experiments on the CIFAR-10, Binarized MNIST, and CelebA datasets confirm the feasibility of our approach. Generalizing from specific (Gaussian) forward processes to discrete-state processes without a variational approximation sheds light on how to interpret diffusion models, which we discuss.

Santos, Javier E.↗
DOE OSTI2016

PWR Station Blackout and External Events Analysis for LWRS/RISMC Project

In the framework of the US-DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability/ Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (LWRS/RISMC) project, methods, data and tools are being developed with the ultimate scope of improving the safety and operation of the current US nuclear fleet. A set of Industrial Applications (IA) concerning the most relevant safety issues is defined for applying and testing the developed tool kits. The ultimate scope of IA no. 2 is a realistic simulation of natural external hazards that impose threat to a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). This scope requires the development of a methodology and of a qualified set of tools able to perform advanced risk-informed safety analysis. In particular the methodology should be able to combine results from seismic, flooding and thermal-hydraulic (TH) deterministic calculations with dynamic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). A so-called Risk Informed Margin Management (RIMM) approach is being used to represent meaningful (i.e., realistic facility representation and simulation) event scenarios and consequences by linking probabilistic simulations to external events physics. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Control of Beyond Design Basis Accident in Rbmk with Total Blackout with Prolonged Core Dewatering

A scenario is examined for the development of a beyond design basis accident with loss-of-power for internal needs and functional failures/delays in the actuation of mobile means for emergency cooling RBMK in application to the No. 3 unit of the Kursk NPP. It is shown that actions taken by operating personnel to control pressure in the circulation loop, primarily with the aid of the valves of fast reduction setup for dumping steam in the turbine condensers are effective. The sequence of these actions makes it possible to prevent collapse of the channel tubing at high pressure, preserve the integrity of the reactor space, and effectively limit the accidental emission of radionuclides into the environment.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Material Interactions in Severe Accidents – Benchmarking the MELCOR V2.2 Eutectics Model for a BWR-3 MARK-I Station Blackout: Part I – Single Case Analysis

Here in this analysis, the two material interaction models available in the MELCOR code are benchmarked for a severe accident at a BWR under representative Fukushima Daiichi boundary conditions. This part of the benchmark investigates the impact of each material interaction model on accident progression through a detailed single case analysis. It is found that the eutectics model simulation exhibits more rapid accident progression for the duration of the accident. The slower accident progression exhibited by the interactive materials model simulation, however, allows for a greater degree of core material oxidation and hydrogen generation to occur, as well as elevated core temperatures during the ex-vessel accident phase. The eutectics model simulation exhibits more significant degradation of core components during the late in-vessel accident phase – more debris forms and relocates to the lower plenum before lower head failure. The larger debris bed observed in the eutectics model simulation also reaches higher temperatures, presenting a more significant thermal challenge to the lower head until its failure. At the end of the simulated accident scenario, however, core damage is comparable between both simulations due to significant core degradation that occurs during the ex-vessel phase in the interactive materials model simulation. A key difference between the two models’ performance is the maximum temperatures that can be reached in the core and therefore the maximum ΔT between any two components. When implementing the interactive materials model, users have the option to modify the liquefaction temperature of the ZrO 2 -interactive and UO 2 -interactive materials as a way to mimic early fuel rod failure due to material interactions. Through modification of the liquefaction of high melting point materials with significant mass, users may inadvertently limit maximum core temperatures for fuel, cladding, and debris components.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

BWR station blackout: A RISMC analysis using RAVEN and RELAP5-3D

The existing fleet of nuclear power plants is in the process of extending its lifetime and increasing the power generated from these plants via power uprates and improved operations. In order to evaluate the impact of these factors on the safety of the plant, the Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) project aims to provide insights to decision makers through a series of simulations of the plant dynamics for different initial conditions and accident scenarios. This paper presents a case study in order to show the capabilities of the RISMC methodology to assess impact of power uprate of a Boiling Water Reactor system during a Station Black-Out accident scenario. We employ a system simulator code, RELAP5-3D, coupled with RAVEN which perform the stochastic analysis. Lastly, our analysis is performed by: 1) sampling values from a set of parameters from the uncertainty space of interest, 2) simulating the system behavior for that specific set of parameter values and 3) analyzing the outcomes from the set of simulation runs.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Feb. 2021 Electricity Blackouts and Natural Gas Shortages in Texas

An extreme winter storm and extended cold weather event hit Texas and the central United States February 8–19, 2021. This led to both exceptional energy demands and issues with electricity and natural gas supplies over several days. Residential space heating drove the increases in demand, with over 60% of Texas homes using electric heat pumps and 35% using natural gas furnaces. Supply issues were caused by freezing equipment and supply lines, impacting both natural gas supplies and most forms of electricity generation. [1] Natural gas supplies were especially important because natural gas also supplied about 50% of the electricity generating capacity in ERCOT, the primary grid operator in Texas. [2] Due to the supply shortages, wholesale electricity prices were forced to the ERCOT maximum of $\$9,000$ /MWh for over three days (recent range $\$20$–40/MWh), [3] and natural gas prices for physical delivery exceeded $\$400$ /MMBtu in some areas (recent range $\$3$–4/MMBtu). [4]

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Study of BWR Mark I Station Blackout Accident with GOTHIC Modeling

The overall objective of this study is to develop a high-fidelity simulation capability for the analysis of accident progression during Station Black-Out (SBO) scenario in Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Mark I plant. The motivation is on predicting the effectiveness of containment venting within accident mitigation strategy and how to avoid core melt by choosing a proper time to initiate primary system venting. In this work, a GOTHIC model has been developed to support characterization of reactor safety systems performance and evaluation of the venting strategy. The GOTHIC model provides a seamless coupled simulation of the reactor coolant system and the containment system based on the design of the Peach Bottom-2 plant system. Efforts are also taken on the analysis for the primary system venting strategy. The safe time intervals (so-called “safe venting window”) to initiate the primary system depressurization in order to optimize the early cooling strategy by adding fire water and avoid core melt are also studied based on the heat removal capability (HRC) of the reactor vessel coolant. This concept is instructive for the operation of the safety systems during the SBO accident mitigation.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗