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DOE OSTI2025

Charge Reduction and Performance Analysis of a Heat Pump Water Heater Using R290 as a Refrigerant—A Field Study

Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) are a proven technology for water heating that has been commercialized. The adoption of HPWHs for domestic and commercial water heating is growing rapidly because of their superior performance compared with alternative water heating methods. Whereas most existing systems use R-134a as a working refrigerant, R290 has gained major attention owing to its superior thermodynamic properties. The goal of the current study is to assess the performance of residential HPWH with R290 as a direct refrigerant replacement for R134a. Two units of a 50 gal HPWH were used in this experimental study. A baseline unit contained R134a refrigerant, and a prototype unit contained R290 refrigerant. The prototype unit was developed through the modification of a commercially available HPWH unit to achieve a low charge of R290 refrigerant. Another major modification was the replacement of the baseline compressor with a compressor designed for R290. Tests were conducted in a field environment (a research and demonstration house) using programmed drawn profiles daily. The prototype that reduced the charge by 43–47% provided displayed performance comparable to the baseline unit regarding first-hour rating (FHR) and the uniform energy factor (UEF).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2026

DAMSA Experiment Conceptual Design White Paper

DAMSA (DArk Messenger Searches at an Accelerator) is a novel short-baseline accelerator experiment aimed at probing short-lived physics processes, including searches for evidence of a dark sector of particle physics and well-motivated Standard Model signals. Motivated by open questions in neutrino physics and the absence of conclusive evidence for conventional weakly interacting massive particles, DAMSA targets MeV-to-sub-GeV dark-sector messengers with feeble couplings that can be produced in abundance at the PIP-II LINAC. By employing an ultra-short baseline of order one meter, DAMSA is uniquely positioned to overcome the beam-dump "ceiling" that limits sensitivity to promptly decaying particles in longer-baseline experiments. The conceptual design emphasizes a beam-dump production scheme combined with a compact detector optimized for rare decays while mitigating intense neutron-induced backgrounds inherent to high-power proton beams. To validate the experimental strategy and detector technologies, the Little DAMSA Path-Finder (LDPF) proof-of-concept experiment is proposed, focusing on axion-like particles decaying to two photons and operating with 300 MeV electron beams at FAST. Successful realization of LDPF will establish the feasibility of the DAMSA approach, enabling a broad and powerful program to explore short-lived new physics and precision Standard Model processes in a previously inaccessible regime. This conceptual design document outlines the technical details of DAMSA's physics goals, the beam facility proposals, key experimental challenges and how to overcome them, and the proposed experimental staging campaigns.

Bhattarai, Prithak [Texas U., Arlington]↗

DOE OSTI2024

Cryogenic aspects of a 20 MW class low-temperature superconducting generator for the renewables industry

In this paper we give a progress update on the cryogenic design for cooling a 20 MW class, partially superconducting generator with stationary field coils for offshore wind renewables industry [1-2]. This is a continuation of an earlier program on a 10 MW system dating back ten years. Whereas this new power rating increase leads to a radial diameter expansion of the superconducting field coils from 4 to > 9.5 m, it maintains the axial length. We show the design based on this scaled up with enlarged diameter. The field coil size increase asks for higher cooling power that leads to a bigger cold box size to accommodate the cryocoolers. In the design, as many as 8 cryocoolers can be accessed and serviced from the nacelle that houses the main cryogenic components. A typical thermal load balance sheet with all components is given and compared against the available cryocooler cooling power at different operating conditions. Due to the cryocoolers’ local point of contact cooling within the nacelle, the temperature gradient of the thermal shield that fully encloses the cold mass with its embedded field coils needs to be balanced out to minimize the heat burden on the field coils. This requires additional analytical efforts and implementation of further design features. The extended nacelle houses the cold box with its cryogenic infrastructure. The interface for the envisaged cryogenic pushbutton closed-loop circulating system remains invisible, requires no handling of cryogenic liquids and is hermetically closed. The field coil diameter increase also leads to a greater initial helium gas storage volume. In addition, it requires higher initial room temperature fill pressure within the toroidal helium vapor storage tanks and in cooling tubes connecting to the cryocoolers. The toroidal helium gas tanks are thermally coupled with the thermal shield so that helium convection inside the storage tank can improve heat transfer and reduce the temperature gradient of the thermal shield. Besides those heat transfer challenges, additional mechanical strain within this large structure is exerted on the torque tubes during initial cooldown and when energizing field coils. Some of those design challenges are quite unexpected, leading to novel workarounds in order to maintain the chosen cooling strategy. Finally, we assess those design limitations in view of further cryogenic scalability with emphasis on manufacturability and assembly.

cryogenics↗

DOE OSTI2026

Atomic-Scale Imaging Reveals Polar-π Interactions in Two-Dimensional Molecular Superlattices

Controlling coassembly of synthetic oligomers into binary superlattices at the atomic level is challenging. Here, we report a strategy for programming polar-π interactions in oligomeric peptoids, a class of sequence-defined peptidomimetics, facilitating the formation of homogeneous two-dimensional (2D) superlattices. N-2-phenylethyl and N-(2-perfluorophenyl)ethyl side chains, similar in size, but with contrasting electrostatic characteristics, were introduced at defined sequence positions to generate favorable dipolar aromatic interactions. The resulting nanosheets exhibit different crystal motifs depending on the side chain interactions: systems containing only one type of aromatic side chain form a parallel V-shaped motif driven by π-π interactions, whereas a combination of both types of aromatic side chains, either within one backbone or through the coassembly of two distinct peptoids, adopt an antiparallel V-shaped superlattice with higher thermal stability, driven by polar-π interactions. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy directly resolved the packing arrangement of perfluorophenyl and phenyl rings in individual nanosheet superlattices, confirming that intermolecular polar-π interaction dominates the superlattice motifs and increases lattice stability. Molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations further substantiate the energetic favorability of polar-π interactions over π-π interactions, rationalizing the formation of homogeneous superlattices with enhanced thermal stability. Our discoveries establish a design principle for binary coassembly using sequence-defined oligomers, which enables control over unit cell geometry, lattice stability, and molecular registration through aromatic side chain polarization and sequence control. This ability to program atomic-scale binary superlattices opens new avenues for designing functional 2D soft materials.

Lee, Yen Jea [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborator↗

DOE OSTI2025

RxnRover/CyRxnOpt

CyRxnOpt aims to provide a single software interface to various optimization algorithms, mainly designed for chemical process optimization applications. CyRxnOpt generalizes the optimization process into four high-level “phases”: Installation, Configuration, Training, and Prediction. This allows developers to program to a general interface for each phase of the optimization, simplifying the development of user-friendly tools to lower the barrier of entry into chemical process optimization, especially for automated laboratory workflows which can greatly benefit from access to various optimization techniques. It is also designed so researchers can easily add new or existing algorithms into existing workflows in a user-friendly manner.

Kulathunga, Dulitha Prasanna [Iowa State Universit↗

DOE OSTI2025

The pNab experiment and the quest for ever better neutron beam polarization

The Nab and pNAB collaborations are conducting a program of studies of free neutron beta decay, with the primary goal of testing the unitarity of the Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix that describes quark mixing due to the weak interaction. For this purpose, a large, novel electromagnetic spectrometer, the Nab spectrometer, has been designed, built, and placed in use to determine the correlation coefficients in unpolarized neutron beta decay: "a", the neutrino-electron correlation coefficient; and "b", the Fierz term. The subject of this paper is pNAB, the second phase of the program, that will deploy the same spectrometer with a polarized neutron beam to determine "A", the beta asymmetry; and "B", the neutrino asymmetry coefficients. A focus of this paper will be on the strategies to provide a high and precisely known neutron beam polarization.

Baessler, Stefan↗

DOE OSTI2025

Design, Fabrication and On-Sun Performance Evaluation of SiC Receiver Feature Specimens for CST Applications Using Additively Manufactured SiC Materials

Increasing operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Successful development of CST systems to generate heat for industrial applications requires significant increase in temperature capability and techno-economically viability of the receiver systems. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc and Sandia National Lab, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to demonstrate SiC receiver with air exit temperatures up to 1100 oC and high thermal efficiencies. We report design, fabrication and on-sun test results of SiC components of a prototype 50kW (thermal) HOTSSTAR module. The receiver module architecture is based on a radial airflow design and consists of a series of radial SiC receiver sectors organized around a SiC center absorber. The SiC components are fabricated using binder-jet printed SiC followed by melt-infiltration reaction bonding process. To enhance the reliability and to minimize the risk of cracking damage of SiC test articles in thermal gradient and thermal shock environment of the application, the components were laminated with GE’s MI SiC-SiC CMC. Following extensive design and lab test analyses, selected SiC component designs are tested at Heliogen Lancaster Solar field under highly concentrated solar fluxes around 2000 suns to assess the thermal performance characteristics under realistic field conditions. We report on the test results and compare the thermal performances of different HOTSSTAR SiC absorbers. Finally, we discuss fabrication and initial assembly of a 50kW prototype test module in preparation of on-sun field tests to assess the performance of our final design.

CST, CSP, high temperature, air receiver, SiC, add↗

DOE OSTI2024

Small Modular Reactor and Microreactor Security-by-Design Lessons Learned: Integrated PPS Designs

U.S. nuclear power facilities face increasing challenges in meeting dynamic security requirements caused by evolving and expanding threats while keeping costs reasonable to make nuclear energy competitive. The past approach has often included implementing security features after a facility has been designed and without attention to optimization, which can lead to cost overruns. Incorporating security into the design process can provide robust, cost-effective, and sufficient physical protection systems. The purpose of this report is to capture lessons learned by the Advanced Reactor Safeguards and Security (ARSS) program that may be beneficial for other advanced and small modular reactor (SMR) vendors to use when developing security systems and postures. This report will capture relevant information that can be used in the security-by-design (SeBD) process for SMR and microreactor vendors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Microreactor Assembly Transportation Cask Model Description for Criticality Safety Validation Basis Assessment (Rev. 3)

Criticality safety analyses are completed on a transportation cask used for microreactor assembly shipment to provide an example of model and analysis to industry for reproducing this type of study on their microreactor fuel shipment. The fuel assembly considered is based on a gas-cooled microreactor (GC-MR), which utilizes HALEU fuel in the form of TRISO particles and utilizes various design options considered in industry designs. Various versions of this GC-MR assembly were studied, with and without YH 2 moderator, providing similar conclusions. The shipment cask design is revised based on an existing ES-3100 design, developed by Y-12 for the transport of highly enriched uranium (HEU), but is enlarged to hold the GC-MR fuel assembly. Criticality safety analysis for the cask/GC-MR fuel assembly package was performed using the CSAS6 sequence of SCALE6.3.2, utilizing the ENDF/B-VII.1 based continuous energy neutron library, and the analysis strictly follows the guideline from NRC reference reports. Different scenarios, e.g. normal operation, undamaged cask with water flooded, damaged cask with optimal water moderation, have been analyzed and it could be concluded the package would always have a large margin of subcriticality even packed in an infinite array. Sensitivity and similarity analyses are also performed using the TSUNAMI sequence of SCALE6.3.2, and the similarity analysis uses all the experiments from the ICSBEP Handbook with Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU), Intermediate and Mixed Enriched Uranium (IEU) and Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) systems, together with additional ones that are sponsored by the DNCSH program, and selected IRPhEP experiments using TRISO fuel and graphite moderator. These similarity analyses indicate that the dry nominal design has no similar benchmark experiments (ck values greater than 0.8), which may become problematic if more assemblies are shipped together (or a fully loaded core is shipped) and margin to criticality is reduced. However, the cask models with flooded assemblies exhibited similarities to many experiments with c k values greater than 0.8.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (ANNUAL REPORT | PLAN YEAR 2023–2024)

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), invests $\$$7.5 billion to build out a national electric vehicle (EV) charging network and created the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) to “study, plan, coordinate, and implement issues of joint concern between the two agencies.” The BIL represents a historic effort to electrify the U.S. transportation system, which has significant potential to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle the climate crisis. The U.S. transportation sector accounts for one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions—the largest share of all primary sectors, including electricity production, industry, commercial and residential, and agriculture. The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, one of the BIL funding programs, was launched in February 2022, providing nearly $\$$5 billion over 5 years to help states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (hereafter referred to as “states”) create a network of EV charging stations beginning with designated Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs), with an emphasis on the Interstate Highway System. The funding is made available to the states in allocations each year pending FHWA certification of the state’s annual deployment plan. The NEVI program is in its third year, so there's a lot to celebrate. As of July 2024, 39 states have released solicitations for their NEVI programs and eight states have opened their first NEVI-funded stations (61 ports in total), which have already powered thousands of charging sessions for EV drivers across America. Additional stations are in the pipeline with more than 2,500 additional ports having been awarded or conditionally awarded by the states. All states released their Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 deployment plan updates to reflect the new minimum requirements and guidance, and several states added newly designated EV AFCs in their FY 2024 deployment plan updates, bringing the total AFC network of EV corridors to more than 81,000 miles.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Development of a high current density, high temperature superconducting cable for pulsed magnets

Abstract A low AC loss Rare Earth Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) cable, based on the VIPER cable technology has been developed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems for use in high field, REBCO based tokamaks. The new cable is composed of partitioned and transposed copper ‘petals’ shaped to fit together in a circular pattern with each petal containing a REBCO tape stack and insulated from each other to reduce AC losses. A stainless steel jacket adds mechanical robustness—also serving as a vessel for solder impregnation—while a tube runs through the middle for cooling purposes. Additionally, fiber optic sensors are placed under the tape stacks for quench detection. To qualify this design, a series of experiments were conducted as part of the SPARC tokamak Central Solenoid Model Coil program—to retire the risks associated with full scale, fast ramping, high flux HTS Central Solenoid (CS) and Poloidal Field (PF) coils for tokamak fusion power plants and net energy demonstrators. These risk study and risk reduction experiments include (1) AC loss measurement and model validation in the range of ~5 T/s, (2) an IxB electromagnetic loading of over 850 kN/m at the cable level and up to 300 kN/m at the stack level, (3) a transverse compression resilience of over 350 MPa, (4) manufacturability at tokamak relevant speeds and scales, (5) cable to cable joint performance, (6) fiber optic based quench detection speed, accuracy, and feasibility, and (7) overall winding pack integration and magnet assembly. The result is a cable technology, now referred to as PIT VIPER, with AC losses that measure fifteen times lower (at ~5 T/s) than its predecessor technology; a 2% or lower degradation of critical current (Ic) at high IxB electromagnetic loads; no detectable Ic degradation up to 570 MPa of transverse compression on the cable unit cell; end to end magnet manufacturing, consistently producing Ic values within 7% of the model prediction; cable to cable joint resistances at 20 K on the order of ~15 nΩ; and fast, functional quench detection capabilities that do not involve voltage taps. This cable technology will be tested comprehensively in a Central Solenoid Model Coil to prove its readiness for compact, high field tokamak operation.

Sanabria, Charlie (ORCID:0000000150175309)↗

DOE OSTI2025

Resilience Project Implementation Memo for the Town of Stowe, Vermont

This Resilience Project Implementation Process Memo was developed with and for the Town of Stowe Electric Department (SED) under the DOE C2C Expert Match Program. It is intended to outline the steps of a process, albeit nonlinear and iterative, to plan, design, and implement community resilience hubs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Capsule Design and Preparation for YH x Specimen Irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Advanced nuclear systems for terrestrial microreactors and space applications require moderator materials with high thermal stability, hydrogen retention, and efficient neutron moderation. Yttrium hydride (YH x ) is a promising candidate, but its irradiation performance and hydrogen stability remain insufficiently understood. To address this, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory, supported by the US Department of Energy’s Nuclear Science User Facilities program, have initiated an irradiation campaign in ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. The experiment employs six irradiation capsules containing YH x specimens (H/Y ≈ 1.9) designed for three target temperatures (300°C, 400°C, and 500°C) and two distinct neutron fast fluence levels. This report documents the irradiation test matrix, capsule design, specimen precharacterization, and experiment readiness for insertion. Planned postirradiation examinations will provide new insights into hydrogen retention and microstructural stability, advancing the understanding of YH x as a moderator for compact reactor applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Capsule Design and Preparation for YH x Specimen Irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Quantum Computing and Visualization Research Challenges and Opportunities

Here, quantum computing (QC) has experienced rapid growth in recent years with the advent of robust programming environments, readily accessible software simulators and cloud-based QC hardware platforms, and growing interest in learning how to design useful methods that leverage this emerging technology for practical applications. From the perspective of the field of visualization, this article examines research challenges and opportunities along the path from initial feasibility to practical use of QC platforms applied to meaningful problems.

Data visualization↗

DOE OSTI2024

IRIS: A Performance-Portable Framework for Cross-Platform Heterogeneous Computing

From edge to exascale, computer architectures are becoming more heterogeneous and complex. The systems typically have fat nodes, with multicore CPUs and multiple hardware accelerators such as GPUs, FPGAs, and DSPs. This complexity is causing a crisis in programming systems and performance portability. Several programming systems are working to address these challenges, but the increasing architectural diversity is forcing software stacks and applications to be specialized for each architecture. As we show, all of these approaches critically depend on their software framework for discovery, execution, scheduling, and data orchestration. To address this challenge, we believe that a more agile and proactive software framework is essential to increase performance portability and improve user productivity. To this end, we have designed and implemented IRIS: a performance-portable framework for cross-platform heterogeneous computing. IRIS can discover available resources, manage multiple diverse programming platforms (e.g., CUDA, Hexagon, HIP, Level Zero, OpenCL, OpenMP) simultaneously in the same execution, respect data dependencies, orchestrate data movement proactively, and provide for user-configurable scheduling. To simplify data movement, IRIS introduces a shared virtual device memory with relaxed consistency among different heterogeneous devices. IRIS also adds an automatic kernel workload partitioning technique using the polyhedral model so that it can resize kernels for a wide range of devices. Our evaluation on three architectures, ranging from Qualcomm Snapdragon to a Summit supercomputer node, shows that IRIS improves portability across a wide range of diverse heterogeneous architectures with negligible overhead.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2024

MFANS 2024 - Formally Proving Characteristics of Cyber-Physical Systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are engineered systems that rely on the smooth integration of computational algorithms and physical elements. This integration presents new challenges for verifying that systems will behave as expected. The goal of this presentation is to present current challenges and potential solutions for the formal verification of cyber-physical systems. For cyber systems, formal methods refer to systematically rigorous mathematical techniques employed in the specification, development, analysis, and verification of both software and hardware systems. Recent advancements in computer science have yielded sophisticated tools specifically designed to address challenges associated with formal methods in complex systems. These tools leverage various foundational concepts such as logic, formal languages, program semantics, type systems, type theory, and automata theory. A notable achievement in the application of formal methods is the seL4 microkernel, claimed to be the first general-purpose operating-system kernel to be verified. Its proof implies the absence of bugs and guarantees that the kernel meets specifications. For physical systems, dynamic and control theory has a history of using rigorous analytic techniques to prove functional correctness. Lyapunov, optimal, classical, modern, and robust control theories all provide rigorous mathematical methods both to analyze system performance and to design controller that can be guaranteed to meet certain objectives. Recent computational techniques like level set theory and reachability analysis provide assertions that a system's state will avoid unsafe regions. Even though success has been independently achieved for cyber systems and physical systems, the integration of such systems creates new challenges. In particular, there is an obvious discrepancy between finite-state machines and infinite-state systems, resulting in different approaches for modeling and analyzing these system. While it is possible to simulate hybrid systems, this provides only a demonstration of a performance and not proof. For hybrid systems, current formal methods and system analysis approaches typically require a workarounds to work on hybrid systems like CPS. This paper will outline the state of the art and limits of current practice for formally verifying CPS and will identify possible research directions that require attention.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2024

Mitigation for Removal of Building 01-202681 in the Main Storage Yard of the Area 1 Subdock, Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada

The Main Storage Yard was originally recorded as SHPO Resource No. S2772 in 2020 during an architectural survey of the Area 1 Subdock (Collins et al. 2022). It was recommended individually eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criteria A and C and as contributing to the significance of the potential Area 1 Subdock Historic District. The SHPO concurred with these determinations in a letter dated April 29, 2022 (Reed). The Main Storage Yard retains all seven aspects of integrity. The location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association have not changed since the original construction. Since the purpose of the yard is to maintain storage equipment that is actively being used, the design and feeling will change each time equipment is moved. Such actions reinforce the integrity of design and feeling. Buildings 01-101 and 01-102 were removed (Collins and Menocal 2020), but the other buildings and storage yard remain. Therefore, the setting has been changed, but not to the degree that the Main Storage Yard no longer conveys its significance (see Figures 4 and 5 for comparison). The Main Storage Yard was designed to facilitate the relocation of the Area 3 Subdock to Area 1 in 1985. The design for the overall Subdock provided a centralized cluster of buildings surrounded by two large storage yards. While the North Storage Yard largely serves as overflow storage, the Main Storage Yard holds the majority of drill rigs and drilling equipment needed to support big hole drilling. The Main Storage Yard and its contents were essential elements of the nuclear testing drilling program on the NNSS thus making it eligible for the NRHP under Criterion A for its contribution to broad patterns of history by storing specially designed equipment for underground nuclear testing at the NNSS. It is also eligible under Criterion C as it is an engineered landscape that now serves as an open-air repository of drilling technology and nuclear testing. In addition to its individual significance, the Main Storage Yard also contributes to the significance of the Area 1 Subdock Historic District as it showcases a variety of big-hole drilling equipment, support facilities, and warehouses that were specially designed for nuclear testing at the NNSS. Despite the demolition of two contributing elements to date, the district still contains numerous examples of other facilities with the purpose of supporting big-hole drilling; therefore, the district still remains eligible under Criteria A and C.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗