SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “safeguarding”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 397 records · Page 22

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2022

NWAL Validation Report for U Assay by Potentiometric Titration (Modified Davies and Gray Technique) and U and PU Assay by Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

SRNL Sensing & Metrology, previously Analytical Laboratory, is a member of the IAEA Network of Analytical Laboratories for Nuclear Material Measurement that is qualified to provide Uranium and Plutonium isotopic analysis of nuclear materials by Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry. As part of the membership, SRNL participated in the 2019 Nuclear Material Round Robin to maintain the qualification to provide isotopic analysis. SRNL also participated with the additional intent to qualify Uranium Assay by Potentiometric Titration (Davies and Gray method) and Uranium and Plutonium Isotope Dilution by Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Network of Analytical Laboratories. The proficiency test exercise was conducted by the Office of Safeguards Analytical Services, Department of Safeguards.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2022

Computational Modeling and Simulation for Nonproliferation: The History (and Present) of Monte Carlo and the MCNP(R) Code at Los Alamos [Slides]

The emergence of the Monte Carlo method as a research tool springs from work done at Los Alamos in the 1940s.Monte Carlo and the MCNP Code have been and continue to be developed at Los Alamos for many decades. From basic science in support of understanding nuclear interaction physics to global security applications, application uses of the code are extensive. Recent R&D projects and code modernization efforts make the MCNP code a great tool for nuclear nonproliferation applications. In collaboration with nuclear safeguards experts, new training has just recently been developed to help new practitioners learn how to use the code for nuclear safeguards applications.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Area V: Waste Management and Subsurface Science (FY23 Q2)

The objective of Topic Area V is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of an intermediate-depth borehole for disposal of IAEC nuclear waste. The IAEC nuclear waste is currently stored in above ground and/or in near-surface facilities that provide short-term radiological worker safety but do not provide long-term, full security and safeguards protection for the nuclear material. Disposal of the IAEC nuclear waste several hundred meters below the surface in a sealed borehole would provide long-term security and safeguards due to its depth underground, as well as long-term radiological safety, due to its isolation in a stable geological formation.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2023

Area V: Waste Management and Subsurface Science Q3 Report

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

DOE OSTI2023

Nuclear Material Control & Accounting for Pebble Bed Reactors (FY 2023 Summary Report)

This report discusses the work done under the US Department of Energy NE-5 Advanced Reactor Safeguards and Security Program during FY 2023. It provides a summary of material control and accounting (MC&A) for pebble bed reactors (PBRs) and addresses some of the main challenges with current PBR MC&A approaches that will inform safeguards and security by design efforts. The efforts to date have focused on tristructural isotropic (TRISO) pebble fuel material accounting and control including working with partners in industry, loss and production of nuclear material as part of reactor operations, burnup modeling and measurements, uncertainty quantifications for such modeling and measurements, statistical approaches needed, and measurement methods. The unique fuel management and utilization in a PBR, where the fuel in spherical form is introduced and circulates through the reactor, poses special challenges for MC&A. This contrasts with traditional water-cooled reactors in which the fuel is contained in large assemblies and can be easily identified and counted. Even online fueled reactors, such as the CANDU reactors (none of which operate in the United States), are significantly different because the fuel is still contained in relatively large assemblies, is uniquely identified, and the number of assemblies that pass through the core on an annual basis is much fewer than the hundreds of thousands that circulate in a PBR, none of which are uniquely identified. Additionally, the nature of the TRISO fuel results in very low heavy metal loading with each pebble containing less than 10 g of uranium and on the order of less than 1 g of fissile material. This low fuel density and the robustness of the TRISO particles are major features of the TRISO fuel from a safety basis as each TRISO particle and pebble acts as a containment for the nuclear material and fission products during normal and accident conditions. This also results in very low plutonium loading per pebble during normal operations, which is on the order of 0.1 g at full burnup. A major feature of PBRs is that they will allow for significantly higher burnup, on the order of 160 GWd/THM compared to the burnup of traditional LWRs, which is on the order of 45 GWd/THM. This is achieved by monitoring the pebbles as they circulate through the reactor and allowing them to be reintroduced into the core until the desired burnup is achieved and they are removed from the reactor and enter the spent fuel storage areas.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Safety in Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities for the U.S. National Labs and Beyond

This report discusses the importance of the critical and underexplored topic of artificial intelligence (AI) safety, as highlighted during the “Strategy Alignment on AI Safety” workshop convened at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in April 2024. Through a summary of keynote talks, panel discussions, and breakout sessions, world-leading AI safety experts from academic, industry, national labs, and government agencies clearly agree on the need for and importance of large-scale investments for research and capabilities in AI safety. With the field innovating at unprecedented rates, there is increasing urgency to develop novel evaluation methodologies that allow full considerations of risks/threats of AI technologies in different domains. Quantitative metrics and effective methodologies that can evaluate and audit the “safeness” of how a given AI technology is trained, deployed, or regulated are, at best, nascent for certain scenarios or, more commonly, nonexistent. This maturation gap presents the possibility of serious threats to national security, and further inaction may have serious consequences. Additionally, the gap between the public’s and research community’s perceptions of AI risks/rewards is significant. While numerous voices from the AI community have expressed concern that the risks could be so high that future AI systems could inflict extinction-level damage to humanity if deployed incorrectly, the public largely is aware only of risk in low-impact scenarios. This discrepancy highlights the crucial need for researchers to articulate to governmental bodies what, why, and when various AI risks matter as part of motivating funding requests. Thus, the call to action for this community is to pursue AI safety as a “Big Science” project on a scale comparable to the Manhattan Project. High risks and high payoffs are on the table, but safe AI is a fast-moving target, and large-scale investments are needed to guide development of this technology in a responsible way. We highlight the need for a multilayered solution combining the development of new methods and algorithmic approaches to mitigate threats with an active participation of the government(s) in setting high industry standards and regulations based on state-of-the-art technology. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories have served as leading institutions for scientific innovation in the U.S. for more than 70 years. Drawing on their expertise in the AI community and their history of safeguarding critical and sensitive information, and as we look to the future, national labs are the best choice for evaluating and safeguarding AI technologies.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2024

Technical report Letter: RAFM, ODS steels and MMLC for Nuclear energy application

The lifetime, thermodynamic efficiency, safety and economic viability of new generation fission and fusion reactor concepts can largely be tied to the mechanical performance and stability of structural alloys under extreme environments. In this context, engineered nano materials could have broad-reaching impact on the future of advanced nuclear fuel-cycle and reactors. These systems are characterized by a large number density of interfaces which are efficient sinks for point defects and moderately biased; therefore limiting the deleterious effects of irradiation. Broadly, nuclear nano-technology deals with the use of the latest engineered-nanomaterials for improving the nuclear power performances and safety in all areas of nuclear energy production to bring new generations of nuclear power units. New advanced fuel assembly designs also have implications for securities and safeguards. To support the readiness for potential future license applications, an understanding of the technologies that would enable new reactor designs in the areas of component performance and domestic safeguards is necessary. This technical report letter work explores the technical issues and potential regulatory considerations associated with developing and adopting fuel claddings made of advanced nano- materials. Specifically three classes of nanomaterials are considered: (i) reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels, (ii)oxide dispersed steels (ODS) and (iii) multi-metallic layered composites (MMLC).

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Assessment of Flow-Enhanced Electrochemical Sensor Testing and Deployments

The goal of our activities in FY24 was to enable advanced materials accountancy for molten salt reactors (MSRs) through the development and optimization of robust flow-enhanced electrochemical sensors (FEES) using a safeguards-focused sensor testing platform called the modular flow instrumentation testbed (MFIT). Flow-enhanced electrochemical sensors are a type of electroanalytical sensor that have been developed at Argonne National Laboratory to be installed directly into MSR flow conduits to make measurements of the salt composition. These sensors represent a significant improvement in capabilities compared to earlier electroanalytical sensors that instead can only be operated in quiescent conditions. Previous work has focused on testing of the FEES in flowing conditions provided by the MFIT to assess the accuracy and precision of the sensor measurements. This year, the FEES technical readiness was increased by (1) demonstrating the use of optimized sensor techniques to achieve measurements in very high-concentration MSR-relevant salts, (2) leveraging new multimodal sensors and automation approaches to reduce measurement uncertainties, and (3) fabricating and deploying sensors to industrial partners to improve their ability to make measurements in challenging environments. Additionally, we also ran the sensors during complex system operations involving combined flow and purification activities to demonstrate safeguards-relevant measurements during online processing for MSRs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Windowless Optical Cell Flow System

One of the goals for advanced integrated nuclear safeguards is on-line optical analysis of molten salt in molten salt reactors and electrochemical fuel reprocessing facilities. While progress has been made in the development of optical techniques that may be suitable for on-line analysis of molten salts, significant technology gaps exist with regard to integrating these analytical techniques into industrial-scale processes. One key technological hurdle is the short service life of optical window materials, which are subject to clouding and scaling during extended exposure to molten salts. To address this issue, Argonne is developing a gravity flow cell with open-apertures to support on-line optical analysis without the need for salt-wetted windows. The flow cell uses gravity flow and fluid dynamics principles to enable molten salt flow through a pipe that has holes in its wall through which salt does not flow. In FY21, an open-aperture gravity flow cell with windowless optical access to flowing salt was successfully demonstrated. Future work should include the integration of the flow cell into a sampling loop, stakeholder outreach and collaboration, integration of multiple optical analysis techniques, evaluation of the integrated methods, and analyses to determine how the various tools might fit into an integrated safeguards monitoring system of unattended near real time monitoring tools.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Delayed Neutron Temporal Signatures for Uranium Enrichment Measurement NA-241 SGTech (Final Report)

Nondestructive determination of uranium enrichment is a core capability for nuclear material accounting and control (NMAC) and safeguards verification measurements; however, traditional gamma spectroscopy-based techniques for enrichment measurement rely on significant assumptions of material composition and geometry, precluding their use in scenarios where a heterogeneous spatial distribution of enrichments is encountered. As an alternative, we are developing a technique to use delayed neutron temporal signatures for the measurement of uranium enrichment. Each uranium isotope has unique delayed neutron group yields, resulting in a unique delayed neutron decay time profile which can be analyzed to determine enrichment without the need for calibration sources. As part of this effort, we performed a series of measurement campaigns in which we used an active well coincidence counter (AWCC) retrofitted with commercial D-D and D-T generators to evaluate the operational characteristics of this method in response to a set of uranium enrichment and mass standards, as well as representative diversion scenarios in which either “concealed” enriched uranium is shielded by depleted uranium or declared enriched uranium is “hollowed out” and replaced with a central region of depleted uranium. A standard operating procedure and best practices were compiled to facilitate the use of delayed neutron-based enrichment measurements for international safeguards inspections.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2025

Support for Advanced Fuel Fabrication MC&A Approaches

This report summarizes the key activities of the Material Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) program’s safeguards training work package for FY25. The work focused on two main areas: domestic safeguards training and the development of new technologies for nuclear material accounting and control (NMAC). A key development during this FY was the delivery of NMAC statistics for US Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements refresher course. The course objective was to assist industry in meeting the MC&A program requirements for fuel cycle facilities; this training focused on front-end bulk fuel cycle processes. At the same time, a report was prepared on the research output of an effort that focused on the benefits of commercial fuel debundling for NMAC and waste management. The MPACT team evaluated various technologies and proposed a fuel debundling detector that integrates gamma spectroscopy and neutron detection as the most practical solution. The scope of activities under this work package for FY26 focuses on developing a fundamental nuclear material control plan, also known as MC&A plan, for tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel fabrication facilities. This plan will address the various NMAC requirements for facilities that handle Category II.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2026

2026 Annual Molten Salt Reactor Campaign Review

This report documents the 2026 Annual Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) Campaign Review held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from April 21–24, 2026. The review was organized by Dr. Patricia Paviet, National Technical Director of the Advanced Reactor Technology (ART) MSR program for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), and included participation from principal investigators, federal managers, developers, regulators, and members of the broader MSR community. The 2026 review expanded beyond the ART-MSR campaign to include related DOE-NE programs supporting molten salt reactor advancement, including the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) program, Advanced Reactor Safeguards and Security (ARSS), Material Protection, Accounting and Control Technologies (MPACT), and relevant advanced fuels activities. Three days were dedicated to technical presentations and panel discussions covering thermal properties, off-gas management, modeling and simulation, safety and licensing, safeguards and security, materials and corrosion, and irradiation activities. A fourth day was dedicated to technical tours of Sandia National Laboratories and Kairos Power facilities. Attendance was strong and comparable to the prior annual review, with approximately 75 in-person participants per day, 75–80 virtual attendees per day, and approximately 30 participants in the tour day. The review fostered significant technical exchange across national laboratories, universities, industry, regulators, and international participants. This report summarizes the review structure, technical themes, participation, tours, feedback, and conclusions relevant to future planning for the MSR campaign.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Methods of Securing Chemical and Pharmaceutical Knowledge and Recommendations for International Institutions to Enhance Research Integrity

Here, this paper examines strategies for securing chemical and pharmaceutical expertise in a globalized research environment, focusing on safeguarding intellectual property and preventing the misuse of sensitive and potentially dual-use information. The product of collective efforts between Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, and New Bulgarian University, highlights the challenges and opportunities posed by cross-border research collaborations, particularly in the context of differing regulatory frameworks and research cultures. It explores current mechanisms to prevent data loss and unauthorized access to sensitive information while assessing the effectiveness of existing security measures, frameworks, and international export control regimes. The approach examines the differing methodologies for promoting transparency, trust-building, and mutual accountability in joint research projects to cultivate secure data-sharing practices and intellectual property. It provides recommendations for international institutions to implement security guidelines in framing research priorities, encourages continual training and education programs, and the integration of processes for monitoring research compliance. This partnership aims to advance scientific innovation while maintaining global stability, ensuring compliance with international norms, and safeguarding valuable intellectual property as measures in chemical and pharmaceutical research security practices continue to expand due to international collaboration and knowledge exchange.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2025

Advancing ocean monitoring and knowledge for societal benefit: the urgency to expand Argo to OneArgo by 2030

The ocean plays an essential role in regulating Earth’s climate, influencing weather conditions, providing sustenance for large populations, moderating anthropogenic climate change, encompassing massive biodiversity, and sustaining the global economy. Human activities are changing the oceans, stressing ocean health, threatening the critical services the ocean provides to society, with significant consequences for human well-being and safety, and economic prosperity. Effective and sustainable monitoring of the physical, biogeochemical state and ecosystem structure of the ocean, to enable climate adaptation, carbon management and sustainable marine resource management is urgently needed. The Argo program, a cornerstone of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), has revolutionized ocean observation by providing real-time, freely accessible global temperature and salinity data of the upper 2,000m of the ocean (Core Argo) using cost-effective simple robotics. For the past 25 years, Argo data have underpinned many ocean, climate and weather forecasting services, playing a fundamental role in safeguarding goods and lives. Argo data have enabled clearer assessments of ocean warming, sea level change and underlying driving processes, as well as scientific breakthroughs while supporting public awareness and education. Building on Argo’s success, OneArgo aims to greatly expand Argo’s capabilities by 2030, expanding to full-ocean depth, collecting biogeochemical parameters, and observing the rapidly changing polar regions. Providing a synergistic subsurface and global extension to several key space-based Earth Observation missions and GOOS components, OneArgo will enable biogeochemical and ecosystem forecasting and new long-term climate predictions for which the deep ocean is a key component. Driving forward a revolution in our understanding of marine ecosystems and the poorly-measured polar and deep oceans, OneArgo will be instrumental to assess sea level change, ocean carbon fluxes, acidification and deoxygenation. Emerging OneArgo applications include new views of ocean mixing, ocean bathymetry and sediment transport, and ecosystem resilience assessment. Implementing OneArgo requires about $100 million annually, a significant increase compared to present Argo funding. OneArgo is a strategic and cost-effective investment which will provide decision-makers, in both government and industry, with the critical knowledge needed to navigate the present and future environmental challenges, and safeguard both the ocean and human wellbeing for generations to come.

ARGO↗

DOE OSTI2020

Machine Learning Approaches for Nuclear Material Accounting Data from Irradiation and Reprocessing

We are currently exploring data analysis methods for their ability to strengthen the synthesis and evaluation of information generated within domestic and international safeguard regimes. Safeguard data typically includes rich heterogenous datasets amenable to advanced data analytics methods, such as machine learning. We have converted transactional data containing both numerical and categorical attributes from a domestic nuclear material control and accountability (NMC&A) system into a low-dimensional numerical structure via linear principal component analysis. This data representation allows for global structure discovery via cluster analysis, which can characterize the typical behavior of each of the primary types of transaction events. Furthermore, the structure of the top principal components captures the “typical behavior” of the data and is thus amenable to anomaly detection through statistical hypothesis testing. We explored this capability by generating erroneous permutations of the data and computing the Q-residual quantity increase associated with the information loss when these data are projected into the low-dimensional principal component analysis space representative of typical transactions.Future work will focus on identifying data transformations (e.g., graph networks) that more closely align with the inherent structure of these transactions to explain more salient information and disambiguate the underlying nuclear process—in this case, irradiation and reprocessing—from artifacts of NMC&A system transactional record keeping data.

Drescher, Adam↗

DOE OSTI2021

University Research to Support the MPACT 2020 Milestone

University research is a strong focus of the Office of Nuclear Energy within the Department of Energy. This research complements existing work in the various program areas and provides support and training for students entering the field. Four university projects have provided support to the Material Protection Accounting and Controls Technologies (MPACT) 2020 milestone focused on safeguards for electrochemical processing facilities. The University of Tennessee Knoxville has examined data fusion of NDA measurements such as Hybrid K-Edge Densitometry and Cyclic Voltammetry. Oregon State University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute have examined the integration of accountancy data with process monitoring data for safeguards. The Ohio State University and the University of Utah have developed a Ni-Pt SiC Schottky diode capable of high temperature alpha spectroscopy for actinide detection of molten salts. Finally, the University of Colorado has developed a key enabling technology for the use of Microcalorimetry.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Novel Fiber-Bragg-Grating-Based Unique Identifier for Use in Tags and Seals

Tags and seals are important tools used in safeguards regimes for the control of nuclear materials. Vital to a successful tag or seal is the ability to securely, uniquely, and positively distinguish it from others of the same kind. This allows one to validate that items entered into an inspection regime to which the tag or seal is affixed are as claimed. We are developing a new type of unique identifier (UID) for such applications that is based on fiber-Bragg grating (FBG) technology. The index of refraction of the core glass of a fiber optic can be locally and permanently altered if sensitized fibers are exposed to intense ultraviolet light. This can be used to create index modulations with a regular periodicity comparable to the wavelengths of light with which the fiber is used. If broadband illumination is sent down the fiber, any light that is in resonance with the modulations will be reflected back to the input end of the fiber where it can be detected. The shape of the returned spectrum can be set by the modulation pattern written into the fiber’s core. We take advantage of these properties to create a compact UID that contains several FBGs potted into a monolithic body. By connecting the UID to an optical interrogator, the complex spectral return can be uniquely identified with a short measurement, providing a robust identification. As a device based on narrowband spectral returns, FBGs are inherently radiation tolerant, making them ideal for use with nuclear materials. Further, they can be read out remotely via a long fiber optic or locally via brief connection to a portable optical interrogator. Because the spectral signature of FBGs is sensitive to external mechanical perturbations, we are exploring the ability to reversibly alter the signature obtained from the UID by applying controlled mechanical forces with a simple device. Such a “key” will allow different stakeholders to obtain their own unique signature from the device, providing a new level of surety to safeguards inspections.

Ziock, Klaus-Peter↗

DOE OSTI2021

Simulation of Isotopic Concentrations and Gamma Spectra from Dynamic Fission Sources

A tool was developed to rapidly generate synthetic gamma-ray spectra to evaluate safeguards material control and accounting methods for liquid-fueled molten salt reactors. Molten salt reactor operations pose unique challenges to nuclear safeguards methods and protocols compared to deployed reactors designs (e.g., light water reactors). This research evaluates the use of gamma-ray spectroscopy to monitor fission product isotopic flow through a reactor model to understand expected operations and investigate changes to the spectra with material diversion scenarios. The large design space of molten salt reactors (e.g., liquid-fueled, liquid-cooled, online separations) could potentially lead to many measurement points within the reactor system. The developed analytical tool generates and evaluates synthetic gamma-ray spectra from dynamic reactor simulations by extracting isotopic inventory to generate source terms. An implementation in the Gamma Detector Response and Analysis Software (GADRAS) Application Program Interface (API) uses the source terms, a model of the reactor component, a detector response function, and measurement plan to quickly generate and analyze spectra. Prospective measurements are then evaluated in the more accurate but slower Geant4 simulations. Utilization of the developed modeling tool and analysis of the subsequent spectra enables optimization of collimation, shielding requirements, and expected count rates that are used to determine key measurement points in the modeled reactor design.

O'Brien, Sean↗