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DOE OSTI2022

Facilitating Reforestation Through the Plant Microbiome: Perspectives from the Phyllosphere

Tree planting and natural regeneration contribute to the ongoing effort to restore Earth's forests. Our review addresses how the plant microbiome can enhance the survival of planted and naturally regenerating seedlings and serve in long-term forest carbon capture and the conservation of biodiversity. We focus on fungal leaf endophytes, ubiquitous defensive symbionts that protect against pathogens. We first show that fungal and oomycetous pathogen richness varies greatly for tree species native to the United States ( n = 0–876 known pathogens per US tree species), with nearly half of tree species either without pathogens in these major groups or with unknown pathogens. Endophytes are insurance against the poorly known and changing threat of tree pathogens. Next, we review studies of plant phyllosphere feedback, but knowledge gaps prevent us from evaluating whether adding conspecific leaf litter to planted seedlings promotes defensive symbiosis, analogous to adding soil to promote positive feedback. Finally, we discuss research priorities for integrating the plant microbiome into efforts to expand Earth's forests.

Plant Sciences↗

DOE OSTI2026

Accelerated Selectrion of Optimal Perovskite Alloys for Solar PV using a Combined Quantum and Machine Learning Hierachiral Approach

The project aims to: (i) accelerate the discovery of “Missing HP alloys” by combining quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence machine learning approaches, and (ii) analyze the stabilities of candidate alloys, including those that do not pass selection filters (and are thus expected to degrade over time) to decipher the nature of the instabilities to guide the development of durable solar cell materials. Successful candidates will be subjected to validation experiments at NREL's state-of-the-art facilities. The discoveries this effort will provide will be directly testable and implementable and will greatly impact U.S. progress in HP PV as they will provide clear direction and motivation for experimental studies including specific material synthetic targets, device optimization, and device stability protocols. A key advantage of this effort is the feedback and guidance provided by the Industry Collaborative Work Group that we established to coordinate academic and national lab research with industry needs. The proposed work will provide a basis for and direct the development of robust and reliable HP PV. It will also provide a timely, valuable and extensive roadmap to the experimental HP PV community to enable it to focus its efforts on improving and fine-tuning promising HP compositions that this effort predicts will likely be the best performers rather than wandering in the vast chemical space for decades spending enormous resources mostly evaluating unpromising candidate materials.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

SATS Enhanced Capabilities and Demonstration of Improved Ramp Rates for In-Cell Testing

This report presents the development of the second-generation Severe Accident Test Station, referred to as SATS 2.0. SATS 2.0 represents a major advancement in addressing critical research needs for the United States nuclear industry, particularly in relation to fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal (FFRD) concerns associated with the nuclear industry’s goal to extend fuel burnup beyond a peak rod average of 62 GWd/tU. The central objective of SATS 2.0 was the deployment a new furnace capable of achieving heating rates up to 100°C/s. This achievement addresses critical capability gaps, enabling assessment of prioritized research objectives established by the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) Collaborative Research on Advanced Fuel Technologies (CRAFT) working group. These research objectives are directly related to high-burnup loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions and the effects of prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures, both of which are crucial to enhancing nuclear safety and efficiency. The SATS 2.0 system builds upon prior experience with the original SATS system, which focused on evaluating accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding concepts during accident conditions. However, the new system not only expands upon prior core capabilities by achieving higher heating rates with a better furnace but also plans to incorporate novel auxiliary systems to create a versatile platform for addressing current research needs. For example, a system was developed for the quantification and characterization of fission gas released during high-temperature transients. Additionally, in situ measurement capabilities were developed, such as digital image correlation which enabled the real-time capture of strain related to balloon and burst events and fiber-optic sensors that allowed for high-fidelity characterization of temperature gradients. Demonstration tests of the new 12-lamp furnace achieved heating rates up to 120°C/s. Notably, SATS 2.0 demonstrated its capacity to simulate LOCA burst tests at different pressures, yielding burst data that align with historical empirical models. Moreover, the system exhibited its capability to simulate complex conditions observed in anticipated operational occurrences, while effectively mitigating temperature overshoots. These accomplishments mark significant progress toward overcoming FFRD challenges and advancing the United States nuclear industry's safety basis and technical capabilities for extended burnup.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Dwarf Galaxy Number Counts within 25 Mpc: Predictions from Local Group Analogs in TNG50

The modern generation of wide-field galaxy surveys, such as LSST, Euclid, and Roman, will enable studies of dwarf galaxies (10 6 ≤ M * /M ⊙ ≤ 10 9 ) beyond the Local Group (LG) in unprecedented detail. Improved theoretical understanding of this population is necessary to guide these observations, since predictions in this regime are generally limited to specific environments like the LG. We present predictions for the population of dwarf galaxies from the TNG50 run of the IllustrisTNG suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, focusing on the environments within 1 < D/Mpc < 25 of LG analogs at z = 0. In the simulated sample, there are ∼1000 and ∼12,000 dwarf galaxies within 10 and 25 Mpc, respectively. We compare our results with the 50 Mpc Galaxy Catalog and estimate that current observations are highly incomplete at low masses: for 10 6 ≤ M * /M ⊙ ≤ 10 7 (−13 ≲ M r ≲ −10), we find completeness fractions of ∼23% within 10 Mpc and ∼4% within 25 Mpc. The simulated galaxies below the completeness limits of the observations exist in a range of environments, with notable populations of field dwarfs at all distances and satellites around centrals with masses 10 8 ≲ M * /M ⊙ ≲ 10 11 within 10–25 Mpc. We find that there are ∼8 times more quiescent dwarf galaxies in the TNG50 sample than are currently cataloged. Our results suggest that upcoming observations should uncover a substantial population of dwarf galaxies, and that ≳15% of these will be red, currently quenched galaxies in the field.

Shread, Evangela E. [California Institute of Techn↗

DOE OSTI2020

Hadronic contributions to (g - 2) µ

The Muon g-2 Experiment at Fermilab, which recently started running, plans to reduce the uncertain- ties on the already very precisely measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon by a factor of four. The goal of this effort is to probe the observed difference of more than three standard deviations between Standard-Model theory and experiment, one of the few persistent hints for physics beyond the Standard Model. The Fermilab experiment collected data from their first run last year with statistics comparable to BNL E821. They expect to release the measurement result in 2019. On the theoretical side, because the muon g - 2 arises from quantum- mechanical loop contributions in the Standard Model, it is sensitive to virtual effects of new particles, and places important constraints on Standard-Model extensions. To leverage the anticipated reduction in experimental errors, and determine unambiguously whether or not new-physics effects contribute to this quantity, the theoretical errors must be made more reliable and reduced to a commensurate precision. The Muon g-2 Theory Initiative was created to facilitate this development. The dominant sources of uncertainty in the Standard-Model prediction of the muon g -2 are from the hadronic contributions. The hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) provides the leading correction followed by hadronic light-by-light (HLbL) scattering. There are a number of complementary theoretical efforts underway to better understand and quantify these contributions, including dispersive and data driven methods, lattice QCD, and effective field theories. Given the precision goals and the phenomenological importance, it is important to have more than one independent method for each of the two hadronic corrections, each with fully quantified uncertainties. Fostering the development of such methods is a prime goal of the initiative, as this will enable critical cross checks, and, upon combination, may yield gains in precision, to maximize the impact of E989. An important aspect of the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative’s activities are providing platforms that facilitate interactions between the different groups, as well as between the theoretical and experimental g - 2 communities. To this end, several workshops were organized in 2017 and 2018. The first meeting, held at Fermilab (June 3–6, 2017, St. Charles, IL, USA), served to kick-off the Initiative’s activities. Two meetings in early 2018 were focused respectively on the HVP and HLbL corrections. The HVP meeting was held at KEK (February 12–14, 2018, Tsukuba, Japan) and the HLbL meeting at the University of Connecticut (March 12–14, 2018, Storrs, CT, USA). The most recent workshop, which served as the second plenary meeting of the Initiative, was held at the University of Mainz (June 18–22, 2018, Mainz, Germany). An important outcome of these meetings are concrete plans for a first white paper, which is currently being written. We aim to post the white paper just prior to the release of the first E989 measurement, to present a clean theoretical prediction. The first white paper is focused on assessing and improving the reliability of the SM prediction. The purpose of the INT workshop in September 2019 is to start the next stage of the Initiative, focusing on the development of strategies to improve the theory uncertainties beyond the current level towards the E989 precision goal. We aim to accelerate theoretical developments on the hadronic contributions to the muon g - 2 so that the Standard-Model theory error can be brought to the needed precision, again in advance of the next release from E989. Hence the workshop will provide crucial theory support for a US experiment with broad impact. The Muon g-2 Theory Initiative relies on input from representatives of all the different communities that are engaged in this effort. It is therefore important that all these areas are properly represented. The funds from this grant will be used to enable more people, especially early-career scientists, to participate and make essential contributions to the workshop discussions. Since the workshop’s main goal is to kick-off the next stage of the theory initiative’s activities, support for this workshop from the DOE will help the theory community provide crucial theoretical support to the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Long way to Ricci flatness

We study two-dimensional weighted N = (2) supersymmetric CP models with the goal of exploring their infrared (IR) limit. WCP(N, N ~ ) are simplified versions of world-sheet theories on non-Abelian strings in four-dimensional N = 2 QCD. In the gauged linear sigma model (GLSM) formulation, WCP(N, N ~ ) has N charges +1 and N ~ charges –1 fields. As well-known, at N ~ = N this GLSM is conformal. Its target space is believed to be a non-compact Calabi-Yau manifold. We mostly focus on the N = 2 case, then the Calabi-Yau space is a conifold.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Challenges and Future Directions in Quantifying Terrestrial Evapotranspiration

Terrestrial evapotranspiration is the second-largest component of the land water cycle, linking the water, energy, and carbon cycles and influencing the productivity and health of ecosystems. The dynamics of ET across a spectrum of spatiotemporal scales and their controls remain an active focus of research across different science disciplines. Here, we provide an overview of the current state of ET science across in situ measurements, partitioning of ET, and remote sensing, and discuss how different approaches complement one another based on their advantages and shortcomings. We aim to facilitate collaboration among a cross-disciplinary group of ET scientists to overcome the challenges identified in this paper and ultimately advance our integrated understanding of ET.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Transforming biorefinery designs with ‘Plug-In Processes of Lignin’ to enable economic waste valorization

Biological lignin valorization has emerged as a major solution for sustainable and cost-effective biorefineries. However, current biorefineries yield lignin with inadequate fractionation for bioconversion, yet substantial changes of these biorefinery designs to focus on lignin could jeopardize carbohydrate efficiency and increase capital costs. We resolve the dilemma by designing ‘plug-in processes of lignin’ with the integration of leading pretreatment technologies. Substantial improvement of lignin bioconversion and synergistic enhancement of carbohydrate processing are achieved by solubilizing lignin via lowering molecular weight and increasing hydrophilic groups, addressing the dilemma of lignin- or carbohydrate-first scenarios. The plug-in processes of lignin could enable minimum polyhydroxyalkanoate selling price at as low as $6.18/kg. The results highlight the potential to achieve commercial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates as a co-product of cellulosic ethanol. Here, we show that the plug-in processes of lignin could transform biorefinery design toward sustainability by promoting carbon efficiency and optimizing the total capital cost.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Optimized Quantum Program Execution Ordering to Mitigate Errors in Simulations of Quantum Systems

Simulating the time evolution of a physical system at quantum mechanical levels of detail - known as Hamiltonian Simulation (HS) - is an important and interesting problem across physics and chemistry. For this task, algorithms that run on quantum computers are known to be exponentially faster than classical algorithms; in fact, this application motivated Feynman to propose the construction of quantum computers. Nonetheless, there are challenges in reaching this performance potential. Prior work has focused on compiling circuits (quantum programs) for HS with the goal of maximizing either accuracy or gate cancellation. Our work proposes a compilation strategy that simultaneously advances both goals. At a high level, we use classical optimizations such as graph coloring and travelling salesperson to order the execution of quantum programs. Specifically, we group together mutually commuting terms in the Hamiltonian (a matrix characterizing the quantum mechanical system) to improve the accuracy of the simulation. We then rearrange the terms within each group to maximize gate cancellation in the final quantum circuit. Furthermore, these optimizations work together to improve HS performance and result in an average 40% reduction in circuit depth. This work advances the frontier of HS which in turn can advance physical and chemical modeling in both basic and applied sciences.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2021

Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report "Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance" focused on three atmospheric-based Solar Geoengineering strategies: Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, Marine Cloud Brightening, Cirrus Cloud Thinning. The study recommends that a national (and internationally-coordinated) Solar Geoengineering research program be established and coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program—with a focus on developing information needed by decision makers, not advancing a path to deployment. The study recommends a detailed framework for governance of this research, at both national and international levels. The study also recommends a detailed research agenda for this program, encompassing over a dozen transdisciplinary research topics that can be loosely grouped into the categories of (i) technical dimensions and impacts, (ii) social dimensions, and (iii) context and goals for solar geoengineering research itself.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Status of the Atlas of Neutron Resonances [Slides]

The Atlas of Neutron Resonances is the most comprehensive compilation of neutron resonances, thermal cross sections, resonance integrals and Maxwellian averaged cross sections generally available. For decades, the Atlas was carefully curated and maintained by Dr. Said Mughabghab who sadly passed on during the summer of 2018 after publishing the 2018 edition of the Atlas . We are continuing the development of this important compendium. To a large extent, the Atlas book is generated from a series of text files given in a single purpose domain-specific format. Therefore, we developed a software API and began the systematic assessment of the Atlas files. With this work past, we are now focusing on new efforts to expand the quality and scope of the Atlas . Current and recently completed projects include a cross comparison of the Atlas bibliography with Nuclear Science References and the EXFOR data library, a better determination of average resonance parameters, and using machine learning to assess the correctness of the spin group assignments of resonances tabulated in the Atlas .

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2025

PSEC5 Physical Verification

Ultra-Fast timing detectors, having a time resolution of 10pSec or less, are becoming increasingly important for many scientific disciplines, including High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Medical Imaging and more. When developing ultra-fast detectors such as MCPs, LAPPDs, LGADs, SNSPDs, it is necessary to have access to a readout system that is low power, can support many channels and is cost effective. The PSEC5 chip was an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) developed by the pioneering group of Prof. Henry Frisch at University of Chicago and micro electronic engineers at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Three boards were designed, two to implement the readout system for an LAPPD and one to only characterize the PSEC1 chip. The main goal of the project shifted to setting up a testing environment to focus on the characterization of the chip. My student and I tested and characterized this ASIC using the third chip-on-board printed circuit board. Results show the successful fabrication and operation of some of the key building blocks and lead to the suggestions on modification for the second iteration of the chip.

Rico Aniles, H. D. [Unlisted]↗

DOE OSTI2025

Gold-Standard Chemical Database 137 (GSCDB137): A Diverse Set of Accurate Energy Differences for Assessing and Developing Density Functionals

We present GSCDB137, a rigorously curated benchmark library of 137 data sets (8377 entries) covering main-group and transition-metal reaction energies and barrier heights, (intra- and intermolecular) noncovalent interactions, dipole moments, polarizabilities, electric-field response energies, and vibrational frequencies. Legacy data from GMTKN55 and MGCDB84 have been updated to today's best reference values; redundant or low-quality points were removed, and many new, property-focused sets were added. Testing 29 popular density functional approximations (DFAs) confirms the expected Jacob's-ladder hierarchy overall but also reveals notable exceptions: functional performance for frequencies and electric-field properties correlates poorly with that for other ground-state energetics. ωB97M-V and ωB97X-V are the most balanced hybrid meta-GGA and hybrid GGA, respectively; B97M-V and revPBE-D4 lead the meta-GGA and GGA classes. Double hybrids lower mean errors by about 30% versus their hybrid analogues but demand careful frozen-core, basis set, and spin contamination treatment. GSCDB137 offers a comprehensive, openly documented platform for rigorous validation of DFA and universal machine learning potentials, and training of the next generation of exchange-correlation functionals.

Liang, Jiashu [University of California, Berkeley,↗

DOE OSTI2024

Space-Time Structured Plasma Waves

Electrostatic waves play a critical role in nearly every branch of plasma physics from fusion to advanced accelerators, to astro, solar, and ionospheric physics. The properties of planar electrostatic waves are fully determined by the plasma conditions, such as density, temperature, ionization state, or details of the distribution functions. Furthermore we demonstrate that electrostatic wave packets structured with space-time correlations can have properties that are independent of the plasma conditions. For instance, an appropriately structured electrostatic wave packet can travel at any group velocity, even backward with respect to its phase fronts, while maintaining a localized energy density. These linear, propagation-invariant wave packets can be constructed with or without orbital angular momentum by superposing natural modes of the plasma and can be ponderomotively excited by space-time structured laser pulses like the flying focus.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Human Factors Engineering Insights and Guidance for Implementing Innovative Technologies from the Nuclear Innovation Workshop: A Summary Report

The Nuclear Innovation Workshop was sponsored by the United States Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program and held at Idaho National Laboratory on June 26-28, 2019. The objectives of this workshop were to [1] promote an innovation ecosystem that reduces cost and risk through early evaluations, [2] provide hands-on activities that demonstrate the value of using advanced tools, methods, and capabilities offered by the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, [3] provide a platform to enable broad innovation in the nuclear industry, [4] enable industry leaders the opportunity for networking and sharing of their experiences, and [5] take inspiration from other industries to push the envelope for transformation in the nuclear industry. These objectives were supported through the facilitation of detailed discussions and industry presentations that were presented within the context of a four-phased approach to nuclear innovation. Open conversation about key challenges and considerations for innovation in the nuclear industry was collected at each of facilitated discussions, which were focused on one of the four phases (see Section 3). Further, a survey was administered to attendees at the close of workshop to collect feedback on the quality of the workshop and their impressions of future initiatives for promoting an innovation ecosystem such as with developing an Innovation Portal or establishing an Innovation Working Group (see Section 4). Key recommendations that came from the workshop broadly included the development of an Innovation Portal, establishment of an Innovation Working Group, and subsequent meetings with industry partners including utilities, vendors, and research organizations to exchange lessons learned in innovation, progress of the Innovation Portal, and other related matters specific to nuclear innovation.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Alternative Materials for Mask Construction by the Public

N95 respirators became scarce to the general public in mid-to-late March of 2020 due to the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. By mid-April of 2020, most states in the United States were requiring face coverings to be worn while in public enclosed places and in busy outdoor areas where groups of people were in close proximity. Many resorted to cloth masks, homemade masks, procedure masks obtained through online purchases, and other ad-hoc means. Thus, there was and still is a need to determine the aerosol filtration efficacy of commonly available materials that can be used for homemade mask construction. This study focused on non- woven polymeric fabrics that are readily available for homemade mask construction. The conclusion of this study is that non-woven materials that carry a high electric charge or those that can easily acquire charge had the highest aerosol filtration efficiency per unit of pressure drop. Future work should examine a wider variety of these materials and determine the maximum pressure drop that a nominal homemade mask can withstand before a significant portion of airflow is diverted around the mask. More broadly, a better understanding of the charge state on non-woven materials and impact of that charge state on filtration efficiency is needed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Chapter 22: Compressed Air Evaluation Protocol. The Uniform Methods Project: Methods for Determining Energy Efficiency Savings for Specific Measures (September 2011 - August 2020)

Compressed-air systems are used widely throughout industry for many operations, including pneumatic tools, packaging and automation equipment, conveyors, and other industrial process operations. Compressed-air systems are defined as a group of subsystems composed of air compressors, air treatment equipment, controls, piping, pneumatic tools, pneumatically powered machinery, and process applications using compressed air. A compressed-air system has three primary functional subsystems: supply, distribution, and demand. Air compressors are the primary energy consumers in a compressed-air system and are the primary focus of this protocol. The two compressed-air energy efficiency measures specifically addressed in this protocol are: high-efficiency/variable speed drive (VSD) compressor replacing modulating, load/unload, or constant-speed compressor; compressed-air leak survey and repairs. This protocol provides direction on how to reliably verify savings from these two measures using a consistent approach for each.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2025

Illinois Storage Corridor CarbonSAFE Phase III: Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan

The Stakeholder Engagement and Outreach Plan provides a comprehensive framework for engaging stakeholders of the Illinois Storage Corridor (ISC) project. The ISC project is a CarbonSAFE Phase III project designed to facilitate commercial deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in Illinois. The project aims to establish a multi-industry carbon storage corridor through development of storage sites near the One Earth Energy (OEE) ethanol production facility in north-central Illinois and the Prairie State Generating Company (PSGC) coal-fired power plant in south-central Illinois, with combined annual CO 2 capture ultimately exceeding 8.6 million tons per year. Stakeholder engagement is recognized as a critical component for successful CCUS deployment, alongside technical and economic considerations. As an emerging technology, CCUS may not be well understood by the general population, and lack of public awareness can lead to opposition that poses significant barriers to project development. This plan addresses this challenge through systematic stakeholder identification, analysis, planning, and implementation of engagement actions. The plan is structured around four main sections: Communication, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Engagement, and Environmental Justice. Activities will be conducted under Tasks 1 and 4 of the project's Statement of Project Objectives, with two key subtasks: (1) developing a stakeholder analysis and engagement plan through face-to-face meetings, facilitated discussions, and surveys; and (2) implementing stakeholder engagement and public outreach activities including meetings, open houses, and permit hearings. The Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) will manage engagement activities following DOE-NETL best practices, focusing on providing objective, fact-based information about CCUS and the ISC project. A comprehensive Communication Plan establishes protocols for media contacts, site visits, and crisis communications. The stakeholder analysis follows a structured workflow process divided into Pre-feasibility and Feasibility phases, incorporating contextual understanding, assessment, data collection, and analysis. Key stakeholder groups include government bodies, educational organizations, conservation and environmental groups, agricultural communities, and religious organizations. The plan addresses common stakeholder questions regarding project risks, benefits, safety, property values, liability, and environmental impacts. Recommendations emphasize developing clear messaging, creating informational materials, and preparing to address both project-specific and broader environmental concerns to ensure transparent communication and build stakeholder support throughout project implementation.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗