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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 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

New bounds on heavy QCD axions from big bang nucleosynthesis

We study big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) constraints on heavy QCD axions. BBN offers a powerful probe of new physics that modifies the neutron-to-proton ratio during the process, thanks to the precisely measured primordial Helium-4 abundance. A heavy QCD axion provides an attractive target for this probe, because not only is it a well-motivated hypothetical particle by the strong 𝐶⁢𝑃 problem, but also it dominantly decays to hadrons if kinematically allowed. A range of its lifetime is thus excluded where the hadronic decays would significantly alter the neutron-to-proton ratio. We compute axion-induced modification of the neutron-to-proton ratio, and obtain robust upper bounds on the axion lifetimes, as low as 0.017 s for the axion mass higher than 300 MeV. Remarkably, this is stronger than projected future cosmic microwave background bounds via 𝑁 eff . Our bounds are largely insensitive to uncertainties in hadronic cross sections and the axion’s branching fractions into various hadrons, as well as to the precise value of the initial axion abundance. We also incorporate, for the first time, several key improvements, such as scattering processes by energetic 𝐾 𝐿 and secondary hadrons, that can also be important for studying general hadronic injections during BBN, not limited to those from axion decays.

Axions↗
DOE OSTI2020

Spent fuel nondestructive assay integrated characterization from active neutron, passive neutron, and passive gamma

Spent nuclear fuel comprises a wide range of irradiated isotopic material compositions, and characterization through nondestructive measurements is beneficial in verifying declared parameters before the fuel is placed in storage, final disposal, and/or reprocessed. This paper discusses results from three nondestructive assay instruments, including passive gamma, passive neutron, and active neutron methods, that measured fifty spent fuel assemblies at the Clab interim storage facility in Sweden. Here, integrated analysis of the measurements from the three different instruments allowed parametric assessments of cooling time, burnup, neutron multiplication, fissile mass, initial enrichment, and decay heat of each individual fuel assembly. Passive gamma measurements were found to be the most beneficial in predicting cooling time, passive neutron for determining burnup, active neutron in estimating initial enrichment, and both passive and total neutron for multiplication correlations. Fissile mass was best estimated using any combination of any two of the instruments such that corrections for isotopic changes in the fuel could be accounted for with the first set of measurements and multiplication of the assembly in the second. In conclusion, the nondestructive assay technologies demonstrated through this effort enhance the characterization of spent nuclear fuel assemblies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

How Long Does the Hydrogen Atom Live?

It is possible that the proton is stable while atomic hydrogen is not. This is the case in models with new particles carrying baryon number which are light enough to be stable themselves, but heavy enough so that proton decay is kinematically blocked. Models of new physics that explain the neutron lifetime anomaly generically have this feature, allowing for atomic hydrogen to decay through electron capture on a proton. We calculate the radiative hydrogen decay rate involving the emission of a few hundred keV photon, which makes this process experimentally detectable. In particular, we show that the low energy part of the Borexino spectrum is sensitive to radiative hydrogen decay, and turn this into a limit on the hydrogen lifetime of order 10 30 s or stronger. For models where the neutron mixes with a dark baryon, X, this limits the mixing angle to roughly 10 –11 , restricting the n → XY branching to 10 –4 , over a wide range of parameter space.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Initial Engineering Framework for Species Tracking in MSRs Involving Fuel Salt and Structures

This report implements a high-fidelity multiphysics modeling framework using the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program tools to track leaching and plating of materials between the fuel salt and structures in Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs). Specifically, this framework is demonstrated in modeling various processes within MSRs including hot and cold leg corrosion, redox potential driven corrosion, colloid precipitation and deposition, and noble metal plating and decay heat modeling. The model integrates neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, depletion, and thermochemistry to simulate the evolving chemical behavior of the fuel salt in interactions with structural materials. Initial findings suggest that hot-cold leg corrosion in MSR systems may become significant if the redox potential of the fuel salt is not sufficiently controlled. Additionally, the impact of noble metal decay heat deposition in large power reactors is explored. The resulting engineering framework for species tracking will be applied in the future toward specific validation work with ongoing experimental efforts focusing on both chloride and fluoride salt loop experiments with in-situ corrosion and redox control instrumentation.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Two-body weak currents in heavy nuclei

In light and medium-mass nuclei, two-body weak currents from chiral effective field theory account for a significant portion of the phenomenological quenching of Gamow-Teller transition matrix elements. Here we examine the systematic effects of two-body axial currents on Gamow-Teller strength and β-decay rates in heavy nuclei within energy-density functional theory. Using a Skyrme functional and the charge-changing finite amplitude method, we add the contributions of two-body currents to the usual one-body linear response in the Gamow-Teller channel, both exactly and though a densitymatrix expansion. The two-body currents, as expected, usually quench both summed Gamow-Teller strength and decay rates, but by an amount that decreases as the neutron excess grows. They can enhance individual low-lying transitions, however, leading to decay rates that are quite different from those that an energy-independent quenching would produce, particularly in neutron-rich nuclei. We show that both these effects are related to changes in the total nucleon density as the number of neutrons increases.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of Gamma Ray Production - Quarterly Report FY22Q2

The LLNL team has performed the first systematic study of the effect of two-body weak currents in β decay rates across the entire mass table. In light and medium-mass nuclei, two-body weak currents from chiral effective field theory account for a significant portion of the phenomenological quenching of Gamow-Teller transition matrix elements. We examined the systematic effects of two-body axial currents on Gamow-Teller strength and β-decay rates in heavy nuclei within energy-density functional theory. We extended the charge-changing finiteamplitude pnFAM code to incorporate the contributions of two-body currents to the usual onebody linear response in the Gamow-Teller channel. We found that the two-body currents, as expected, usually quench both summed Gamow-Teller strength and decay rates, but by an amount that decreases as the neutron excess grows; see Fig. 1. In addition, they can enhance individual low-lying transitions, leading to decay rates that are quite different from those that an energy-independent quenching would produce, particularly in neutron-rich nuclei. This new physics capability is unique and provides the highest-fidelity description of β decay on the market. The underlying computational implementation can be reused to calculate γ-strength functions for finite-range nuclear potentials such as the Gogny force, which will allow us to benchmark some of our future developments against published results. The paper is in print in Phys. Rev. C.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Novel imaging technique for thermal neutrons using a fast optical camera

A novel imaging technique for thermal neutrons using a fast optical camera is presented. Thermal neutrons are reacted with 6 Lithium to produce a pair of 2.73 MeV tritium and 2.05 MeV alpha particles, which in turn interact in a thin layer of LYSO crystal scintillator to produce a localized flash of light. These photons are directed by a pair of lenses to a micro-channel plate intensifier, and its output is connected to the optical camera, TPX3CAM. The results from the camera are reconstructed through a custom algorithm. Various cutting parameters were found through data analysis to eliminate the background, and they were shown effective in matching the simulated rate of the neutron source. The system is fast with 40 ns decay time and allows free-space light collection, both vastly enhances flexibility of neutron detection.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Prototype reactor-antineutrino detector based on 6 Li-doped pulse-shape-discriminating plastic scintillator

An aboveground 60-kg reactor-antineutrino detector prototype, comprising a two-dimensional array of 36 6 ⁢Li-doped pulse-shape-sensitive plastic scintillator bars, is described. Each bar is 50 cm long with a square cross section of 5.5 cm. Doped with 6 ⁢Li at 0.1% by mass, the detector is capable of identifying correlated energy depositions for the detection of reactor antineutrinos via the inverse-𝛽-decay (IDB) reaction. Each bar is wrapped with a specular reflector that directs photons toward photomultiplier tubes mounted at both ends of the bar. Here, this paper highlights the construction, key features, and main performance characteristics of the system. The system, which relies on multiple observables such as pulse-shape discrimination, energy, position, and timing, is capable of detecting IBD-like neutron-correlated backgrounds, long-lived decay chains, and cosmogenic isotopes.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Insights from binary pulsars and laboratories into baryon number violation: Implications for GeV dark matter

Rare processes in laboratory and within astrophysical environments can be highly sensitive probes of baryon-number-violating interactions at the TeV scale. We demonstrate the power of neutron stars to constrain baryon-number violation by considering a minimal extension of the standard model involving a TeV-mass scalar mediator and a GeV scale Majorana fermion ψ . We find that a Δ B = 2 mass-loss process in binary pulsar systems via n → γ ψ and the subsequent scattering ψ n → π − K + places stringent constraints on the model parameter space. These limits will become much stronger, due to the possibility of Λ → γ ψ decays at the tree level, if the neutron star equation of state is hyperonic. We compare these constraints with ongoing and future collider experiments, n − n ¯ oscillations, and dinucleon decay searches at future large-scale neutrino experiments, finding that the binary pulsars bounds on couplings are significantly tighter for specific flavor combinations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

baryons↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nuclear temperature and its dependence on the source neutron-proton asymmetry deduced using the Albergo thermometer

Albergo thermometers with double isotope, isotone and isobar yield ratio pairs with one proton or/and neutron difference are investigated. Without any extra sequential decay correction, a real temperature value of 4.9 ± 0.5 MeV is deduced from the yields of the experimentally reconstructed primary hot intermediate mass fragments (IMFs) from 64 Zn + 112 Sn collisions at 40 MeV/nucleon using the Albergo thermometer for the first time. An experimental sequential decay correction from the apparent temperatures to the real ones for twelve other reaction systems with different neutron-proton (N/Z) asymmetries in the same experiment, 70 Zn, 64 Ni on 112,124 Sn, 58,64 Ni, 197 Au, 232 Th at 40 MeV/nucleon, is performed using an empirical correction factor approach of Tsang et al. with the deduced 4.9 MeV temperature value. The dependence of nuclear temperature on the source N/Z asymmetry is further investigated using these deduced real source temperature values from the present thirteen systems. It is found that the deduced real source temperatures at the present source N/Z range show a rather weak dependence on the source N/Z asymmetry. In conclusion, by comparison between our previous results and those from other independent experiments, a consistent description for the N/Z asymmetry dependence of nuclear temperature is addressed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1989

Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA): Technique of choice for nondestructive bulk analysis of returned comet samples

Prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) is a well-developed analytical technique. The technique involves irradiation of samples in an external neutron beam from a nuclear reactor, with simultaneous counting of gamma rays produced in the sample by neutron capture. Capture of neutrons leads to excited nuclei which decay immediately with the emission of energetic gamma rays to the ground state. PGAA has several advantages over other techniques for the analysis of cometary materials: (1) It is nondestructive; (2) It can be used to determine abundances of a wide variety of elements, including most major and minor elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni), volatiles (H, C, N, F, Cl, S), and some trace elements (those with high neutron capture cross sections, including B, Cd, Nd, Sm, and Gd); and (3) It is a true bulk analysis technique. Recent developments should improve the technique's sensitivity and accuracy considerably.

Lindstrom, David J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Comprehensive Analysis of Streaming and Shutdown Dose Rate Experiments at JET with ORNL Fusion Neutronics Workflows

Current experimental fusion systems and conceptual designs of fusion pilot plants (FPPs) are growing in complexity and size. Several radiation metrics are crucial to the safe operation of fusion machines, including neutron flux streaming through openings and the shutdown dose rate (SDDR). Most current designs of advanced experimental fusion systems—and the most probable candidates for FPPs—are based on the tokamak concept, which is prone to neutron streaming through the myriad openings needed for diagnostic and support systems. SDDR is caused by decay gamma rays from radionuclides that become activated by neutrons during the operation of a fusion system that use deuterium-deuterium (DD), tritium-tritium, or deuterium-tritium plasma. Because computational tools have become essential for determining these radiation metrics, they must be validated against reliable and applicable experimental data. Experiments at the Joint European Torus (JET) provide a unique source of experimental data for validating computational tools and nuclear data used to determine SDDR and neutron fluxes in streaming-dominated geometries. Here, this paper presents the comprehensive analysis of the high-performance DD JET SDDR, and streaming experiments performed using Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) fusion workflows. The computational results were compared with experimental results that consist of online SDDR measurements with ionization chambers and neutron fluence streaming measurements using thermoluminescent detectors. The ratio of calculated-to-experimental SDDR values ranges from 0.6 to 2.5, and the streaming results range from 0.5 to 8.0. Future work will include analyzing the JET 2021 DTE2 campaign alongside the integration of the Shift Monte Carlo transport code into all ORNL fusion neutronics workflows.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Breakdown of sound in superfluid helium

As elementary particles carry energy and momentum in the Universe, quasiparticles are the elementary carriers of energy and momentum quanta in condensed matter. And, as elementary particles, under certain conditions quasiparticles can be unstable and decay, emitting pairs of less energetic ones. Pitaevskii [Sov. Phys. JETP 9, 830 (1959)] proposed that such processes exist in superfluid helium, a quantum fluid where the very concept of quasiparticles was borne by Landau and which presented the first notable success of that concept. Pitaevskii’s decays have important consequences, including the possible breakdown of a quasiparticle [M. B. Stone et al. , Nature (London) 440, 187 (2006)]. Here, we present neutron scattering experiments, which provide evidence that such decays explain the collapsing lifetime (strong damping) of higher-energy phonon-roton sound-wave quasiparticles in superfluid helium. Importantly, this damping develops when helium is pressurized towards crystallization, or warmed towards approaching the superfluid transition. Our results resolve a number of puzzles raised by previous experiments and reveal the ubiquity of quasiparticle decays and their importance for understanding quantum matter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Novel Technique of Extracting UCN Decay Lifetime from Storage Chamber Measurements Dominated by Scattering Losses

The neutron’s lifetime is a critical parameter in the standard model. Its measurements, particularly measurements using both beamline and ultracold neutron storage techniques, have revealed significant tension. In this work, we review the status of the tension between various measurements, especially in light of the insights provided by the β-decay correlation measurements. We revisit the lifetime measurement in a material storage chamber, dominated by losses from scattering off the walls of the storage chamber. The neutron energy spectra and associated uncertainties were, for the first time, well-characterized using storage data alone. Such models have applications in the extraction of the mean time between wall bounces, which is a key parameter for neutron storage disappearance experiments in search of neutron oscillation. A comparison between the loss model and the number of neutrons stored in a single chamber allowed us to extract a neutron lifetime of τn*=880(+158/−78)stat.(+230/−114)sys.s (68.3% C.I.). Though the uncertainty of this lifetime is not competitive with currently available measurements, the highlight of this work is that we precisely identified the systematic sources of uncertainty that contribute to the neutron lifetime measurements in material storage bottles, namely from the uncertainty in the energy spectra, as well as from the storage chamber surface parameters of the Fermi potential and loss per bounce. In doing so, we highlight the underestimation of the uncertainties in the previous Monte Carlo simulations of experiments using the technique of ultracold neutron storage in material bottles.

Mohanmurthy, Prajwal (ORCID:0000000275737010)↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Influence of β-decay Rates on r-process Observables

Abstract The rapid neutron capture process ( r -process) is one of the main mechanisms whereby elements heavier than iron are synthesized, and is entirely responsible for the natural production of the actinides. Kilonova emissions are modeled as being largely powered by the radioactive decay of species synthesized via the r -process. Given that the r -process occurs far from nuclear stability, unmeasured beta-decay rates play an essential role in setting the timescale for the r -process. In an effort to better understand the sensitivity of kilonova modeling to different theoretical global beta-decay descriptions, we incorporate these into nucleosynthesis calculations. We compare the results of these calculations and highlight differences in kilonova nuclear energy generation and light-curve predictions, as well as final abundances and their implications for nuclear cosmochronometry. We investigate scenarios where differences in beta-decay rates are responsible for increased nuclear heating on timescales of days that propagates into a significantly increased average bolometric luminosity between 1 and 10 days post-merger. We identify key nuclei, both measured and unmeasured, whose decay rates directly impact nuclear heating generation on timescales responsible for light-curve evolution. We also find that uncertainties in beta-decay rates significantly impact age estimates from cosmochronometry.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fission fragment decay simulations with the CGMF code

The CGMF code implements the Hauser-Feshbach statistical nuclear reaction model to follow the de-excitation of fission fragments by successive emissions of prompt neutrons and γ rays. The Monte Carlo technique is used to facilitate the analysis of complex distributions and correlations among the prompt fission observables. Starting from initial configurations for the fission fragments in mass, charge, kinetic energy, excitation energy, spin, and parity, Y(A,Z,KE,U,J,π), CGMF samples neutron and γ-ray probability distributions at each stage of the decay process, conserving energy, spin and parity. Nuclear structure and reaction input data from the RIPL3 library are used to describe fission fragment properties and decay probabilities. Characteristics of prompt fission neutrons, prompt fission γ rays, and independent fission yields can be studied consistently. Correlations in energy, angle and multiplicity among the emitted neutrons and γ rays can be easily analyzed as a function of the emitting fragments. Finally, in its current version, CGMF is limited to certain spontaneous fission reactions on Pu and Cf isotopes, as well as neutron-induced fission reactions up to 20 MeV on U, Np, and Pu isotopes.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗