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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Radio Afterglow Detection and AI-driven Response (RADAR): A Federated Framework for Gravitational-wave Event Follow-up

The landmark detection of both gravitational waves (GWs) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation from the binary neutron star merger GW170817 has spurred efforts to streamline the follow-up of GW alerts in current and future observing runs of ground-based GW detectors. Within this context, the radio band of the EM spectrum presents unique challenges. Sensitive radio facilities capable of detecting the faint radio afterglow seen in GW170817, and with sufficient angular resolution, have small fields of view compared to typical GW localization areas. Additionally, theoretical models predict that the radio emission from binary neutron star mergers can evolve over weeks to years, necessitating long-term monitoring to probe the physics of the various postmerger ejecta components. These constraints, combined with limited radio observing resources, make the development of more coordinated follow-up strategies essential—especially as the next generation of GW detectors promises a dramatic increase in detection rates. Here, we present RADAR, a framework designed to address these challenges by promoting community-driven information sharing, federated data analysis, and system resilience, while integrating AI methods for both GW signal identification and radio data aggregation. We show that it is possible to preserve data rights while sharing models that can help design and/or update follow-up strategies. We demonstrate our approach through a case study of GW170817, and discuss future directions for refinement and broader application.

Gravitational waves↗
DOE OSTI2025

A 1 km soil moisture dataset over eastern CONUS generated by assimilating SMAP data into the Noah-MP land surface model

An improved fine-scale soil moisture (SM) dataset at 1 km grid spacing, covering much of the eastern continental US, was generated by assimilating 9 km Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) SM data into the v4.0.1 Noah-MP land surface model. With 12 ensemble members, the assimilation was carried out using the ensemble Kalman filter algorithm within NASA's Land Information System. The SM analysis for 2016 was fully validated against in situ observations from four different networks and compared with four other existing datasets. Results indicate that this SM analysis surpasses other datasets in top-layer SM distribution, including a machine-learning-based product, despite all SM estimates being less heterogeneous than observed. The analysis of anomalous errors suggests that large similarity in intrinsic errors is likely due to overlapping data sources among the selected SM datasets. More detailed evaluations were performed over two geographic areas. The observations collected by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facility in Oklahoma suggest that soil temperature and surface heat fluxes are concurrently simulated with good accuracy. Investigation into the 2016 southeastern US drought response further indicates drier conditions and higher evapotranspiration estimates compared to GLEAMv4.1. Notably, large errors are associated with grids having clay soil textures, underscoring the need for refined model treatments for specific soil types to further improve SM estimates. The dataset is publicly available on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14370563 (Tai et al., 2024).

Tai, Sheng-Lun [Pacific Northwest National Laborat↗
DOE OSTI2020

Stakeholder Engagement Review Meeting Summary Report

Sustainability in the context of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program is the ability to maintain the safe and economic operation of the existing fleet of nuclear power plants now and in the future. It has two objectives with respect to long-term operations: (1) to provide science and technology-based solutions to industry to safely enhance the economical operation of power reactors; and (2) to manage the aging of systems, structures, and components (SSCs) so that nuclear power plants can continue to operate safely and cost-effectively.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Air Pollutant Emissions and Regulatory Implications of Co-Processing Raw Bio-Oil in U.S. Petroleum Refineries

Pyrolysis oil, often referred as bio-oil or biocrude, has attracted considerable attention because it has higher energy density and carbon content compared to the raw biomass. Using pyrolysis oil derived from low cost and underutilized biomass to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels provides a viable link between the agriculture/forestry and (petro-) chemical industry. Co-processing bio-oil with vacuum gas oil (VGO) in petroleum refinery is appealing due to the relatively low capital requirement to retrofit refinery and the compatibility of fuel products with existing infrastructure. In order to implement co-processing, a petroleum refinery would need to consider several process modifications and therefore could be subject to varying levels of air permitting requirements based on bio-oil co-processing ratio, co-processing capacity in existing units, the amount of regulated pollutants expected to be emitted, among other factors. This analysis considers co-processing 5% (by weight) of raw bio-oil with VGO in the fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) unit(s) in a petroleum refinery. We estimate the potential increase in emissions of regulated air pollutants resulting from the modifications required to implement bio-oil co-processing and evaluate the regulatory and permitting implications for three FCC size categories in the U.S. refineries, which could co-processes raw bio-oil to produce partially renewable transportation fuels. We also assess technically feasible emission control options petroleum refineries could adopt to avoid being subject to major source permitting requirements if the estimated increase in regulated air pollutant emission exceeds the applicable threshold for major modifications. Insights from our analysis can help overcome challenges and risks associated with timely obtaining air permits required to implement bio-oil co-processing in existing refineries. Our analysis also provides needed information for decision makers (e.g., local air quality agencies) to understand the potential air quality implications for retrofitting refineries to co-process bio-oil, particularly in areas with high concentration of petroleum refineries.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

LWRS 2019 Accomplishments Report

Nuclear energy is an important part of supplying our nation’s energy—safely, dependably, and economically—with reduced carbon dioxide emissions. The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy-Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) supports a strong and viable domestic nuclear industry. In collaboration with industry programs, the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program supports the continued operation of the commercial fleet of nuclear power plants. DOE’s role in this program focuses on enhancing the safe, efficient, and economical performance of the nation’s nuclear fleet. This report describes the accomplishments of the LWRS Program during Fiscal Year 2019. DOE-NE’s0F primary mission is to advance nuclear power as a resource capable of making major contributions in meeting the nation’s energy supply, environmental, and energy security needs. Under the guidance of three research objectives, NE resolves barriers to technical, cost, safety, security, and proliferation resistance through early stage research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) to: • Enhance the long-term viability and competitiveness of the existing U.S. reactor fleet • Develop an advanced reactor pipeline • Implement and maintain national strategic fuel-cycle and supply-chain infrastructures.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Pumped Storage Hydropower Potential and Opportunities

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a flexible energy storage technology with the potential to improve grid reliability, resiliency, and stability in the electric grid of the future. NREL has developed a range of data and tools to help understand opportunities for new PSH deployment, including nationwide resource assessment data, a bottom-up component-level cost model, and a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions calculator. These datasets can then be used to inform grid planning models, analysis, and decision making to understand the role PSH can play in the power sector.

cost↗
DOE OSTI2025

Open Architecture for Cost Savings in Advanced Nuclear Reactors

Recently, nuclear power plant build projects in the West have run over budget due to high capital costs and schedule overruns. Compared to other sources of energy, nuclear power plants have higher capital costs. Reactors are often different at every site, resulting in a lack of standardization. Nuclear is expected to compete with other low carbon sources of energy which have lower capital costs making it essential for nuclear to develop ways of reducing costs. Strategies such as standardization, learning rates, modularization, and schedule reduction in advanced reactors can reduce nuclear costs by about 40%. Standardization as a way of cutting capital costs has been explored even in large nuclear power plants. Standardization of certain plant components can result in lower component and installation costs and higher learning from experience. Standardization can be achieved by adopting a criterion of key performance indicators and general design principles for a specific system or component such as the balance of plant. Modularization allows the construction of certain components of SMRs in a factory, which saves time, increases productivity, and encourages higher learning rates. Production learning decreases the time and the cost related to an activity. The potential for modularized components of advanced reactors to be manufactured in factories makes it conducive to achieving higher learning rates. Developing large-capacity nuclear programs through sequential builds cultivates a higher learning rate, which in effect may reduce schedule overruns. Open architecture has been identified as a way to drive standardization among advanced reactor designs and result in cost savings. Open architecture (OA) is defined as a design enabling a diverse supply chain by defining and publishing requirements of systems or equipment in functional and/or interface terms, utilizing technical standards in widespread use. Currently, the nuclear industry’s approach is to use closed architecture, making most designs proprietary. However, collaboration between various advanced reactor vendors and suppliers utilizing the concept of open architecture can result in modular and standardized architecture of subsystems or subcomponents of a nuclear power plant. Completely standardizing nuclear power plants may be impossible, however, certain common subsystems amongst the various reactor designs could be standardized and/or access a wider supply chain and leverage existing learning from other sectors. Open architecture will save time and allocate resources to the parts of the plants that have the most unique features. A key advantage of open architecture is its ability to improve production learning across advanced reactors (AR) types in the industry, by providing and utilizing the same kind of component. Sodium fast reactor (SFR), High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) and Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) are the advanced reactors considered for this project. This paper aims to determine the cost savings in advanced reactor programs due to open architecture learning rate. This work is an extension of work done on light water reactor small modular reactors; the cost methodology was utilized to investigate the impact of open architecture on advanced reactors with a particular focus on sodium fast reactors. The cost data on sodium fast reactors used in the model presented the most adequate information required for the analysis.

Advanced Nuclear Reactors↗
DOE OSTI2023

ECAR-7210 Rev 0 Steady-state Thermo-mechanical Analysis of the MARVEL Fuel Bundle

This document reports the steady-state thermal-hydraulic and static mechanical analyses of the MARVEL micro-reactor core. The objective of this work is to investigate whether fuel-to-fuel contact could occur due to the thermal deformation of the fuel cladding during the normal operation and to assess the resulting impact on the peak cladding temperatures (PCT) if contact occurs. The scope of the work consists of three computational tasks. First, a conjugate heat transfer analysis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was performed to evaluate the PCTs during normal operating conditions. Second, a finite element analysis (FEA) using the cladding temperature field obtained from the CFD analysis was performed to evaluate the thermal deformation of cladding and determine the occurrence of fuel-to-fuel contact. Finally, a CFD analysis of FEA-informed fuel-to-fuel gap (represented by a conservative 0.05 mm uniform gap) was performed to evaluate whether the PCT exceeds the safety criteria.

21 - SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLAN↗
DOE OSTI2021

UKy-CAER Heat Integrated Transformative CO 2 Capture Process in Pulverized Coal Power Plants

The goal of this Phase II Topical Report is to summarize the work for public domain conducted on project DE-FE0031583. Building upon the Design Basis completed during Phase I and in accordance with the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO), the University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) (Recipient) along with team members has completed the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for its advanced, versatile post-combustion CO 2 capture system (CCS) at the 10 MWe large pilot scale to be installed at the Wyoming (WY) Integrated Test Center (ITC), using a heat integrated process with split-rich fed, two-stage stripping and any advanced solvent to enhance the CO 2 absorber performance and lower the cost of CO 2 capture. The proposed project (Phases I-III) involves the design, fabrication, installation, testing and evaluation of a large pilot scale facility that will demonstrate the UK CAER transformative CCS integrated with an operating power plant. The work performed in Phase I, detailed in the Phase I Topical Report that was submitted in March 2019, included formation of a project team, securing the host site, and completing pre-FEED design basis, a cost estimation, a preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA) and an environmental information volume (EIV). The work performed in Phase II, detailed in this Phase II Topical Report, includes completion of FEEDs, completion of a process risk analysis (PRA), obtaining necessary permits, updating the EIV and TEA, updating the cost and schedule estimate for the Phase III scope of work (SOW) and securing the necessary cost share. Updated information is provided on the current status of the UK CAER CCS technology and the project is ready to begin immediately detailed design, construction and operation of the proposed pilot.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Using Geophysical Information to Investigate Subsurface Structure within the High-Hydraulic Conductivity Analysis Zone

Within the 200 East Area of the Central Plateau and southeastward toward the Columbia River, a high-hydraulic conductivity zone (HCZ) has been interpreted to extend through the 200-PO-1 and 200-BP-5 operable units on the Hanford Site. The HCZ is a controlling hydraulic feature that impacts groundwater flow out of the 200 East Area and the fate of eastwardly migrating plumes from the 200 West Area. The lateral extent of the HCZ is highly uncertain, and despite strong evidence for the existence of the HCZ based on water-level data and contaminant plume tracking, there is still a limited understanding of how to define its boundaries. To provide additional information on the nature and extent of the HCZ, three surface geophysical methods – electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), time-domain electromagnetics (TEM), and seismic methods – were used to collect data south of 200 East. In addition, existing data from 200 East, consisting of surface seismic data, a borehole check shot survey in 699-37-47A, and borehole stratigraphic interpretations, were used to aid interpretations of newly collected seismic data south of 200 East. This work presumed that the contrast in subsurface geophysical properties would be a first-order aid identifying a transmissive zone(s) within the HCZ analysis area by imaging contrasts and/or anomalies in geophysical properties. While seismic, ERT, and TEM methods have sensitivity to overlapping physical properties (porosity, moisture content, lithology), the resolution and physics used to acquire each of these datasets are different, and therefore the information can also be different. Figure S.1 shows the locations of the geophysical data considered in this report.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

WISP: Watching grid Infrastructure Stealthily through Proxies (Final Technical Report)

The complex interdependencies of cyber systems (sensors and communications), physical grids and associated electricity market operations make protecting electric power grids a significant challenge. The energy sector is constantly under new, targeted, advanced and dangerous cyber-attacks that have the potential to result in the loss of human life. These threats are further exacerbated by our need to modernize the grid. One focus of cyber security research in smart grids is the securing of the SCADA system through advanced intrusion detection systems (IDS) and bad data detection algorithms in state estimation. These methods either require full knowledge of the system topology and parameters or fail to understand the physical behaviors under attack. WISP (Watching grid Infrastructure Stealthily through Proxies) is designed to provide additional protection to the power grid using only publicly available data. In particular, WISP exploits the spatio-temporal nature of the real time locational marginal prices (LMPs), in conjunction with other information such as bids, weather, outages and load data to analyze anomalous power pricing behaviors and then correlate those observations to localize regions of interest and identify potential cyber events. WISP is non-intrusive as the tool is deployed as a service in the Cloud or on premise and provides reliable information to system operators for enhanced situational awareness, without impeding energy delivery functions. The WISP technology comprises three modules: the data-driven anomaly detection core, the vulnerability and risk analysis and the root cause analysis. The data-driven anomaly detection core performs the tasks of feature selection, anomaly detection and attack region localization. The vulnerability and risk analysis module provides system level information of the vulnerable variables and times, assisting the operators in selecting monitoring and protection nodes. The root cause analysis module takes the detection results and identifies potential operational conditions that contribute to the detected anomalies. In Phase I, we have demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of WISP. We developed a realistic electricity market simulator capable of generating normal and attack market data under various operational conditions. We developed a series of cyber-attack detection and analysis algorithms and evaluated them under multiple data sources. Finally, we integrated all modules into an end-to-end software, providing functions for data management, data analytics and visualization. Specifically, we have achieved: (i) real-time data acceptance from external utility interfaces with >99% acceptance rate; (ii) high performance anomaly detection algorithms with >98% detection accuracy and <0.1% false alarm rate; and (iii) ultra-low computing delay <50 milliseconds. Additionally, our team developed algorithms to identify the vulnerable variables in electricity market operations and root cause analysis functions to identify major contributors to the price spikes. These ancillary modules are necessary when deploying WISP in real world industry environment. In Phase II, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of WISP software on realistic largescale power systems. We performed red team testing for the Phase I WISP software and identified software vulnerabilities and implemented corresponding mitigation solutions. We adapted the electricity market simulator for the Texas synthetic 2000-bus system and generated datasets for the false data injection attacks. We created database and visualization interfaces for the Texas system and the ISO New England system. We performed software optimization in terms of operation efficiency, computing speed and detection accuracy. Finally, we tested the software on the Texas system and the ISO New England system and evaluated the detection performance. Overall, we achieved above 89% detection rate, below 3% false alarm rate and below 37 seconds of end-to-end detection delay.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Improved $^{95}\mathrm{Mo}$ neutron resonance parameters and astrophysical reaction rates

We report improved 95 Mo neutron resonance parameters and reaction rates are important for nuclear astrophysics, testing nuclear models, and nuclear criticality safety. However, despite many previous neutron-capture and total cross-section measurements on this nuclide, there still is much room for improvement as well as several discrepancies. For example, there are very few firm resonance spin and parity assignments; average resonance parameters are available only for each parity, the currently recommended astrophysical reaction rate results in disagreements between stellar models and meteoric isotopic anomalies, and there are substantial disagreements in the neutron-capture cross section at low energies important for nuclear criticality safety. To obtain an improved set of neutron resonance parameters and astrophysical reaction rates for 95 Mo. High-resolution neutron-capture and transmission data were measured at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA) using highly isotopically enriched 95 Mo samples. The neutron-capture apparatus, data reduction, and analysis were improved so that information contained in the γ-ray cascade following neutron capture were used to assign resonance J π values. Following this, simultaneous analysis of the new neutron-capture and transmission data was used to obtain resonance energies, gamma widths, and neutron widths and their uncertainties to a maximum energy of 10 keV. Accurate neutron-capture cross sections also were obtained for the unresolved resonance region to a maximum energy of 500 keV and, together with the new resonance parameters, used to calculate the astrophysical reaction rates in the temperature range from 5 to 30 keV. A vastly improved set of 95Mo neutron resonance parameters and an astrophysical reaction rate accurate to about 3% were obtained. Firm J π assignments were determined for 261 of the 314 observed resonances. This is a very large improvement over the previously published 32 firm J π assignments for 108 resonances. Also, the number of resonances having both firm J π assignments and Γ γ values was increased by almost a factor of 24—from 11 to 261. Neutron- and total-radiation-width distributions and average resonance spacings, average total radiation widths, and neutron strength functions were obtained for the six different s- and p-wave possibilities. Parameters for the lowest s-wave resonance, which is most important for criticality benchmarks, were obtained with high accuracy. Simple modification of the neutron-capture apparatus and expansion and improvement of data analysis techniques led to a large increase in firm J π assignments for 95 Mo neutron resonances. The resulting astrophysical reaction rate is 20%–30% larger than the currently recommended rate at s-process temperatures, which should lead to better agreement between stellar models and meteoric isotopic anomalies. The neutron-capture cross section at low energies is substantially larger than recommended in the latest evaluation, which is problematical for criticality benchmarks. The average resonance spacing as a function of spin and parity is significantly different from current models. The total-radiation-width distributions are significantly broader than predicted by theory and show significant departures from the expected Gaussian shapes.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Precursor Analysis Report: Industroyer Targeting Ukraine Electric Power Transport Utility (Ukrenergo) 2016

The Industroyer Targeting Ukraine Electric Power Transport Utility (Ukrenergo) 2016 Precursor Analysis Report leverages publicly available information about the December 2016 cyber attack against the Ukrainian Ukrenergo electric transmission utility and catalogs anomalous observables for each technique employed in the attack. This analysis is based upon the methodology of the Cybersecurity for the Operational Technology Environment (CyOTE) program. Industroyer is a modular malware framework designed to deploy several Industrial Control System (ICS) protocol-specific attack payloads to disrupt electricity distribution. Adversaries deployed Industroyer within the target network on a Microsoft Windows endpoint capable of directly manipulating or communicating with ICS. Industroyer abuses the functionality of a targeted ICS’s legitimate control system to achieve its intended impact. Adversaries likely first gained access to Ukrenergo enterprise networks in early 2016 after a successful spearphishing campaign against organizations in the electric power sector. Adversaries then began capturing credentials beginning on 1 December 2016. This allowed access to the ICS environment at the Pivnichna electric transmission substation outside Kyiv through a device dual-homed on the Information Technology (IT) and ICS networks. Adversaries conducted discovery, targeting, and access to this device using information and previously captured credentials from compromised enterprise IT machines. Finally, the adversaries deployed and launched the Industroyer malware just before midnight on 17 December. By midnight, Ukrenergo had lost control of a targeted substation, resulting in electric power outages for over an hour in the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Researchers and analysts identified 31 unique techniques (used in a sequence of 33 steps) utilized during the attack with a total of 846 observables using MITRE ATT&CK® for Industrial Control Systems. The CyOTE program assesses observables accompanying techniques used prior to the triggering event to identify opportunities to detect malicious activity. If observables accompanying the attack techniques are perceived and investigated prior to the triggering event, earlier comprehension of malicious activity can take place. Twenty-nine of the identified techniques used during the Industroyer cyber attack were precursors to the triggering event. Analysis identified 548 observables associated with these precursor techniques, 353 of which were assessed to have an increased likelihood of being perceived in the 300 days preceding the triggering event. The response and comprehension time could have been reduced if the observables had been identified earlier. The information gathered in this report contributes to a library of observables tied to a repository of artifacts, data sources, and technique detection references for practitioners and developers to support the comprehension of indicators of attack. Asset owners and operators can use these products if they experience similar observables or to prepare for comparable scenarios.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2023

FAST-1.2 User Installation and Verification Guide: Developed Under NQA-1-2017

The purpose of this document is to provide the user information about the installation of Fuel Analysis for Steady state and Transient (FAST)-1.2 on their computers or servers. General information about the code and supported operating systems is described in Section 1.0. Self-service oriented FAST-1.2 software licensing steps are described in Section 2.0. An installation verification test suite is provided with FAST-1.2 and described in Section 3.0. A convenience script for converting Fuel Rod Analysis Program – Constant (FRAPCON) to FAST inputs is discussed in Section 4.0. FAST-1.2 was developed and released under a software quality assurance program based upon NQA-1-2017 at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). FAST-1.2 is the latest baseline code. The installation verification test suite contains both steady state and transient Anticipated Operation Occurrences (AOOs), accident conditions, such as Reactivity Initiated Accidents (RIAs) and Loss of Coolant Accidents (LOCAs).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Probing the limits of cosmological information from the Lyman- α forest 2-point correlation functions

The standard cosmological analysis with the Lyα forest relies on a continuum fitting procedure that suppresses information on large scales and distorts the three-dimensional correlation function on all scales. In this work, we present the first cosmological forecasts without continuum fitting distortion in the Lyα forest, focusing on the recovery of large-scale information. Using idealized synthetic data, we compare the constraining power of the full shape of the Lyα forest auto-correlation and its cross-correlation with quasars using the baseline continuum fitting analysis versus the true continuum. We find that knowledge of the true continuum enables a ∼ 10% reduction in uncertainties on the Alcock-Paczyński (AP) parameter and the matter density, Ω m . We also explore the impact of large-scale information by extending the analysis up to separations of 240 h -1 Mpc along and across the line of sight. The combination of these analysis choices can recover significant large-scale information, yielding up to a ∼ 15% improvement in AP constraints. This improvement is analogous to extending the Lyα forest survey area by ∼ 40%.

Lyman alpha forest↗