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DOE OSTI2024

Infrastructure improvements in the National Reactor Innovation Center Virtual Test Bed

The National Reactor Innovation Center’s (NRIC) mission is to support deployment of novel reactor concepts. This is achieved by providing physical and virtual spaces for building and testing various components, systems, and complete pilot plants. The Virtual Test Bed (VTB) represents the virtual counterpart to the physical test bed. The VTB is being developed in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. The mission of the VTB is to accelerate the deployment and licensing of advanced reactors by leveraging state-of-the-art modeling and simulation (M&S) tools developed by the DOE NEAMS program. This is accomplished via three primary means: (1) openly hosting simulations that showcase analysis capabilities, (2) continuously testing the models hosted against code updates to avoid deprecation, and (3) filling key M&S gaps that are relevant for the physical NRIC test beds. The VTB repository consists of two sub-entities: • A documentation website detailing the models: https://mooseframework.inl.gov/virtual_test_bed • A GitHub repository that hosts the corresponding files: https://github.com/idaholab/virtual_test_bed. This paper presents the infrastructure added to the VTB in the last two fiscal years. Additional information about the VTB can be found in various publications [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Status of New Models Hosted on the Virtual Test Bed (VTB) in 2024

The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) mission is to support deployment of novel reactor concepts. This is achieved by providing physical and virtual spaces for building and testing various components, systems, and complete pilot plants. The Virtual Test Bed (VTB) represents the virtual counterpart to the physical test bed. It is in development in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. The mission of the VTB is to accelerate the deployment and licensing of advanced reactors by leveraging state-of-the-art modeling and simulation (M&S) tools developed by the DOE NEAMS program. This is accomplished by three primary means: (1) openly hosting simulations that showcase analysis capabilities, (2) continuously testing the models hosted against code updates to avoid deprecation, and (3) filling key M&S gaps that are relevant for the physical NRIC test beds. The VTB repository consists of two sub-entities: 1. A documentation website detailing the models (https://mooseframework.inl.gov/virtual_test_bed). 2. A GitHub repository that hosts the corresponding files (https://github.com/idaholab/virtual_test_bed). Previous documentation on the models hosted in the VTB can be found in [1,2,3,4]. These references also include additional background information on the various NEAMS codes showcased in the VTB (which is omitted here for brevity). This paper primarily provides a status update of the most recent additions to the repository.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

A multi-objective optimization model for cropland design considering profit, biodiversity, and ecosystem services

More sustainable agricultural methods are needed to alleviate the decreases in biodiversity and ecosystem services that have occurred because of industrial agriculture. One such method is the inclusion of alternative crops into croplands that can support biodiversity, reduce erosion and chemical runoff, and sequester carbon in the soil. However, the question of where such crops should be planted to balance competing economic and environmental objectives remains open. To this end, we develop a mixed-integer quadratically constrained program to optimize the layout of a cropland considering economic, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and water quality objectives. We include spatially varying fertilization as a decision variable in addition to crop establishment location. We further include the effect of core area and edges between different crops on biodiversity. To demonstrate the applicability of the model, we apply it to an example field, showing how the optimal cropland design changes as a decision-maker prioritizes different objectives and as edges have different impacts on biodiversity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Characterization of spent nuclear fuel canister surface roughness using surface replicating molds

In this study we present a replication method to determine surface roughness and to identify surface features when a sample cannot be directly analyzed by conventional techniques. As a demonstration, this method was applied to an unused spent nuclear fuel dry storage canister to determine variation across different surface features. In this study, an initial material down-selection was performed to determine the best molding agent and determined that non-modified Polytek PlatSil23-75 provided the most accurate representation of the surface while providing good usability. Other materials that were considered include Polygel Brush-On 35 polyurethane rubber (with and without Pol-ease 2300 release agent), Polytek PlatSil73-25 silicone rubber (with and without PlatThix thickening agent and Pol-ease 2300 release agent), and Express STD vinylpolysiloxane impression putty. The ability of PlatSil73-25 to create an accurate surface replica was evaluated by creating surface molds of several locations on surface roughness standards representing ISO grade surfaces N 3 , N 5 , N 7 , and N 8 . Overall, the molds were able to accurately reproduce the expected roughness average (R a ) values, but systematically over-estimated the peak-valley maximum roughness (R z ) values. Using a 3D printed sample cell, several locations across the stainless steel spent nuclear fuel canister were sampled to determine the surface roughness. These measurements provided information regarding variability in normal surface roughness across the canister as well as a detailed evaluation on specific surface features (e.g., welds, grind marks, etc.). The results of these measurements can support development of dry storage canister ageing management programs, as surface roughness is an important factor for surface dust deposition and accumulation. This method can be applied more broadly to different surfaces beyond stainless steel to provide rapid, accurate surface replications for analytical evaluation by profilometry.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2025

Radio Frequency Field Programable Gate Array Implementation of Reflectometry Cable Monitoring

PNNL has developed an innovative cable testing system that leverages the Xilinx RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC) technology to create a more flexible and capable measurement tool than traditional approaches. The architecture is designed on the ZCU111 development board and takes advantage of the high-speed digital to analog converters (DAC) and analog to digital converters (ADC) to generate and capture digitally synthesized waveforms. The platform allows engineers to easily adjust power, frequency, duration and modulation on the fly rather than being locked into fixed hardware configurations

Tedeschi, Jonathan [Pacific Northwest National Lab↗

DOE OSTI2026

1970 Home Interview Survey

This study was conducted by Twin Cities Metropolitan Council—Saint Paul, and the database was used to develop mathematical models to predict future regional travel patterns and ultimately develop appropriate regional transportation policies, plans, and programs. The surveys in 1970 did not specifically include walking or bicycling as options in the travel diary; instead, these trips are included in a broad “other” category.

1Hz data↗

DOE OSTI2026

1970 Home Interview Survey

The 1970 Home Interview Survey was conducted by Twin Cities Metropolitan Council, Saint Paul. This database was used to develop mathematical models to predict future regional travel patterns, which were used to develop appropriate regional transportation policies, plans, and programs. The 1970 survey did not specifically include walking or bicycling as options in the travel diary; instead, these trips are included in a broad “other” category.

1Hz data↗

DOE OSTI2024

MOOSE-Based Fast Reactor Core Bowing Capabilities: Coupled Structural Mechanics – Thermal Fluids Demonstration and Related Verification Efforts

Under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Program, an integrated multiphysics approach is being developed to model the core bowing phenomena important to liquid metal-cooled fast reactors. Core bowing is an important passive safety mechanism in liquid metal-cooled fast reactors and involves multiphysics effects including radiation transport, fluid flow, heat transfer, and mechanical response to temperature and flux gradients. Verification and assessment efforts continued on the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) capabilities relevant for modeling thermo-mechanical core bowing behavior. IAEA Verification Problem 4, which was started in FY23, was further examined with MOOSE capabilities to rectify discrepancies observed in previous years when compared to IAEA benchmark participant data. Meshing and postprocessing capabilities in MOOSE were also advanced by other teams and utilized this year. A thermal fluids-structural mechanical coupling demonstration has performed on 7-assemblyand 19-assembly fast reactor assembly configurations using MOOSE. Subchannel capabilities are used to calculate coolant temperature, and heat conduction capabilities calculate duct wall temperature as well as heat transfer through the inter-assembly gap. Structural mechanical capabilities then deform the mesh, accounting for contact between assemblies, according to the temperature gradients calculated by the thermal solvers. Power distributions are imposed rather than calculated to demonstrate different deformations.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Advanced Manufacturing Techniques and Compositions of High Entropy Alloys for Nuclear Applications

In line with the objectives of the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMMT) program, this work focuses on new materials development and qualification research and development for next-generation, high-temperature nuclear reactors. High entropy alloys (HEAs) have the potential to serve in these extreme environments of next-generation nuclear reactors because of their unique phase transformation pathways and nanoscale and mesoscale microstructures. The current work focuses on understanding such nuclear-energy-relevant HEAs through a detailed literature survey, selected experimental work, and developing a decision matrix with criteria for the identification of HEAs that may have the most impact and value for further examination.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2024

Schema Elements for Granta Annual Report: FY2024

Granta: Materials Intelligence (Granta: MI) is a commercial database software distributed by Ansys, Inc. that is utilized by the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE) to organize and store relevant materials data. Lack of standard and well-documented database schema is the primary obstacle to an NSE materials data management solution, so the objective of this project is to create and document such a schema. In FY21, an approach for designing, documenting, and managing a standard database schema was described based on the creation of schema elements (collections of attributes used to describe particular aspects of the data) to be used as building blocks for creating various database tables without duplication. In FY22, these methods were applied through a multi-site collaboration to create and document the schema elements necessary to build a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) testing table. In FY23 the schema was expanded to include elements for a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) table, along with schema for supporting metadata tables including Instruments, Projects, Documents, and Testing Series. In FY24 the following progress was made, again through multi-site collaboration: • The existing schema elements were modified to accommodate thermomechanical analysis (TMA) data, and a table, Test Data: TMA, was created for managing TMA data. • The elements necessary for the following additive manufacturing (AM) data tables (directed at data specific to selective laser sintering AM technology) were created: • AM Builds • AM Processes • AM Part Designs • Built AM Parts • AM Feedstock Materials • AM Feedstock Material Batches • The elements necessary for creating a Calibrated Material Models table were created, and the Calibrated Material Models table was created. In FY25 the existing schema will be deployed on the production enterprise Granta instance on the enterprise secure network. Schema elements will be appended, and new elements created as necessary, to allow the creation of tables specifically to support materials testing, AM process development, and design and analysis for modernization programs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Fall 2024- Research update for DynaaTECC

Fall 2024 started the PhD process for me. This quarter was comprised of two major portions: developing a schedule for completing a PhD program and reading current literature relevant to laser driven Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2025

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) Software for Depletion and Fuel Management

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) software is being developed in the Research and Test Reactor (RTR) Program at Argonne National Laboratory to meet the reactor design and analysis needs of the Conversion Program. ADDER is a flexible tool that (1) provides a depletion capability through coupling external neutronics codes with a built-in CRAM solver or external depletion code and (2) provides a user-friendly interface to perform fuel management and criticality search operations. The ADDER software is a Python 3 application written using modern software development practices subject to a compliant implementation of NQA-1 and applicable Department of Energy software quality assurance standards. This report is the user guide for the software release referred to as ADDER v1.1.0. The motivation for a software to have flexible capabilities that ADDER possesses is the need to support a wide variety of geometries that are commonly required in analysis of research and test reactors. These reactors can have complex fuel, experiment, or control material shuffling patterns that persist over several years with many fuel management and partial refueling intervals. The scale of fuel management analysis can require tracking of an inventory that is multiple times the core loading. Many reactors, both power and non-power reactors of various types, will find the features of ADDER useful to facilitate key tasks that a fuel or core design engineer must perform with the convenience of concise input and validated functionality.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) Software for Depletion and Fuel Management

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Advancements in NEAMS Tool Capabilities for Multiphysics Simulation of Fast Reactor Core Bowing and Identification of Validation Test Data

Under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Program, an integrated multiphysics approach is being developed to model the core bowing phenomena important to liquid metal-cooled fast reactors. Core bowing is an important passive safety mechanism in liquid metal-cooled fast reactors and involves Multiphysics effects including radiation transport, fluid flow, heat transfer, and mechanical response to temperature and flux gradients. This report summarizes recent progress on developing a multiphysics, MOOSE-based workflow to predict core bowing and associated reactivity feedback. Last year, thermal fluids and mechanics were coupled on a multi-assembly benchmark problem based on ABR-1000 design. This year, the reactor physics code Griffin was assessed for readiness of core bowing calculations. Preliminary integration of Griffin’s ring-heterogeneous model with thermal fluids and thermal mechanics solvers was performed. Specifically, thermal-mechanics and reactor physics were coupled for single- and multi-assembly problems, and reactor physics and subchannel methods were coupled for a single assembly model. Finally, the workflow of all three physics was preliminarily demonstrated on a single assembly model. Caveats and future development needed have been identified. To supplement the multiphysics demonstration, verification and assessment efforts of thermos-mechanical capabilities for modeling thermo-mechanical core bowing behavior were continued by analyzing IAEA Verification Problem 5 which includes radiation swelling and creep. Additionally, a small core reactor physics benchmark defined by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) was performed to assess neutronics models for estimating reactivity feedback. Finally, Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) validation test data for core bowing phenomena has been identified and summarized, with a recommended path forward for validation once this capability is mature.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2025

High-temperature seals for supercritical carbon-dioxide (sCO 2 ) turbines (Final Report)

This is the final report for project DE-FE0031924 titled “High-temperature seals for supercritical carbon-dioxide (sCO 2 ) turbines.” The report provides a summary of the entire project efforts from October 2020 through December 2024 including the high-temperature commercial dry gas seal (DGS) tests and thermal modeling of Task 2, as well as the high-temperature, large-diameter seal design and high-temperature tests of large-diameter seals in Task 3. A key outcome of Task 2 was the testing completion of specially instrumented commercial DGS in the GE-SwRI Apollo sCO 2 compressor (27,000 rpm). Test data from the DGS showed elevated temperatures upwards of 350 o F, which are close to the higher operating temperature limit of the DGS. The temperature measurements provide insight into the expected thermal loads on DGS operating in high-speed sCO 2 compressor and provided test data for validation of an in-house thermal model of the compressor/seal. Under Task 2.0, this report also presents the development of a steady-state conjugate heat-transfer model of the DGS operating in the sCO 2 compressor – a first of its kind model for modeling heat transfer of sCO 2 in an actual operating compressor. The findings of the thermal model show a reasonable match between temperature predictions of the model and the measured temperature data, also pointing out the validity of the approach and assumptions made in modeling the flows, heat transfer coefficients and windage modeling in the rig. Under Task 3.0, this report presents the preliminary design of a large-diameter hybrid face seal (14 inch and 26-inch diameter) for field testing in a land-based GE turbine. The preliminary seal design effort presented in this report under project DE-FE0031924 builds on the development and successful laboratory testing for such large diameter hybrid face seal under the prior DE-FE0024007 project. Key aspects of seal fluid analyses with CFD, mechanical design considerations and assembly considerations in a land-based turbine are presented. Finally, under Task 3.0, this report also presents the continued high-temperature testing of the 14-inch diameter hybrid face seal developed previously under the DE-FE0024007 program. Specifically, test data demonstrating successful non-contact seal operation and seal effective leakage of 0.001-inch with seal inlet temperatures above 700 o F are presented in this report. Successful hybrid seal operation in a laboratory environment for a large diameter (14-inch) seal at temperatures above 700 o F is a major technological milestone for this technology.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2026

Testing and Expertise for Marine Energy (TEAMER) Program Support (CRADA Final Report)

Virginia Tech (VT) had previously developed a 50 kW AC to DC power converter that is specifically designed to improve the performance and efficiency of wave energy converters (WECs). Through this CRADA, NLR will test the VT power converter via a coupled dynamometer and power electronics test platform. The NLR test platform will be comprised of (1) a rotary dynamometer that will drive a VT provided gearbox and generator, (2) one or more DC regenerative power supplies that provide input power to and take power from the VT supplied power electronics, and (3) a data acquisition system for measurement. NLR will work with VT to develop a test plan, set up the test platform and integrate the test article, perform the testing, and assist in the data analysis.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

DOE OSTI2026

FY26 Progress on Demonstration of a Multiphysics Steady State Capability for Modeling Core Radial Expansion in SFRs

Under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Program, an integrated multiphysics approach is being developed to model the core bowing phenomena important to liquid metal-cooled fast reactors. Core bowing is an important passive safety mechanism in liquid metal-cooled fast reactors and involves multiphysics effects including radiation transport, fluid flow, heat transfer, and mechanical response to temperature and flux gradients. This report summarizes recent progress on developing a multiphysics, MOOSE-based workflow to predict core bowing and associated reactivity feedback. Significant new capabilities in the reactor physics code Griffin - sodium backfill and pin power reconstruction for deformed geometries - were applied in this effort. This year’s work included verification, code comparisons, sensitivity studies, and coupled demonstrations that advance the state of MOOSE-based core bowing workflow. Griffin’s sodium backfill capability was verified by demonstrating that its automated treatment of geometry expansion and material-density updates reproduces manual calculations exactly, confirming solid mass conservation and proper coolant backfilling in expanded geometries. Reconstructed pin powers were compared for Griffin’s ductheterogeneous and ring-heterogeneous treatments in single-, seven-, and nineteen-assembly cases, with best agreement observed in lower-leakage configurations and the duct-heterogeneous approach offering substantially lower computational cost. Thermal-hydraulic sensitivity sensitivities showed that MOOSE SCM, SAM, and CFD are expected to produce similar deformation predictions despite variances in their temperature predictions, and that explicit treatment of inter-assembly flow becomes increasingly important as gap flow rate increases. Finally, coupled demonstrations on small multi-assembly configurations using Griffin, MOOSE Solid Mechanics, MOOSE SCM, and Heat Conduction produced physically consistent reactivity feedback from thermal expansion and bowing. The coupled demonstrations simulated grid plate expansion as well as resultant core bowing at full power conditions. Simplifications were made in current workflow, namely the assumption of instantaneous full power conditions following hot zero power, and pre-expanding the Griffin geometry axially due to lack of an axial fuel pin expansion model and temperature feedback to Griffin.

Wozniak, Nicholas↗

DOE OSTI2025

Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management: Forge Institute Presentation

In this talk, INL will discuss how to develop a cyber supply chain risk management program, to include assessment of vendor risk and applying appropriate mitigations. INL will discuss key risk factors and the challenges of securing supply chain in complex and dynamic vendor environments. Finally, INL will share example language that can be adopted in RFPs and procurement contracts to promote supply chain security.

battery energy storage system↗