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At least 667 records · Page 37

GeoLab's First Field Trials, 2010 Desert RATS: Evaluating Tools for Early Sample Characterization

As part of an accelerated prototyping project to support science operations tests for future exploration missions, we designed and built a geological laboratory, GeoLab, that was integrated into NASA's first generation Habitat Demonstration Unit-1/Pressurized Excursion Module (HDU1-PEM). GeoLab includes a pressurized glovebox for transferring and handling samples collected on geological traverses, and a suite of instruments for collecting preliminary data to help characterize those samples. The GeoLab and the HDU1-PEM were tested for the first time as part of the 2010 Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS), NASA's analog field exercise for testing mission technologies. The HDU1- PEM and GeoLab participated in two weeks of joint operations in northern Arizona with two crewed rovers and the DRATS science team.

Evans, Cindy A.↗

The Future of Safety Management

As the pace of aviation evolution accelerates, our approach to safety and risk management needs to evolve to cover expanded current day operations as well as participants not traditionally included in the airspace. To assure safety of an increasingly complex aviation system it is essential to leverage new processes and techniques that can more quickly identify and respond to emerging risks. The concept of an In-Time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS) presents an advanced SMS framework designed to enable integrated safety management and assurance. To assure safety of future aviation operations and technologies, advanced SMS concepts must be designed such that they can evolve to keep pace as aviation continues to change and as new safety and risk management tools and techniques emerge.

safety↗

Accelerating Nuclear Fuels and Materials Qualification by Multi-Level Irradiation Experiment Campaign

The advanced reactor technologies feature fuels, coolants, and materials that promise safer operating conditions under normal and accident scenarios. However, the nuclear fuels and materials qualifications require several decades (for example, new reactor fuel qualification from conceptualization requires about 20 years). Therefore, accelerating nuclear fuels and materials qualification is essential, and it can be achieved by combining high through-put materials irradiation and testing, advanced post-irradiation examinations, and Multiphysics modeling. This paper addressed the associated challenges in accelerating nuclear fuels and material qualification for new and advanced reactor designs, which differ based on fuel, coolant, operating conditions, and structural materials. These challenges vary for radiation level, operating conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure), and coolant type (e.g., corrosion environment). In addition, the challenges and limitations in modeling tools, experimental facilities, and licensing guidelines are also discussed, and a general solution path forward is recommended.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Presentation: Accelerating Nuclear Fuels and Materials Qualification by Multi-Level Irradiation Experiment Campaign

The advanced reactor technologies feature fuels, coolants, and materials that promise safer operating conditions under normal and accident scenarios. However, the nuclear fuels and materials qualifications require several decades (for example, new reactor fuel qualification from conceptualization requires about 20 years). Therefore, accelerating nuclear fuels and materials qualification is essential, and it can be achieved by combining high through-put materials irradiation and testing, advanced post-irradiation examinations, and Multiphysics modeling. This paper addressed the associated challenges in accelerating nuclear fuels and material qualification for new and advanced reactor designs, which differ based on fuel, coolant, operating conditions, and structural materials. These challenges vary for radiation level, operating conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure), and coolant type (e.g., corrosion environment). In addition, the challenges and limitations in modeling tools, experimental facilities, and licensing guidelines are also discussed, and a general solution path forward is recommended.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

How fast can one resize a distributed file system?

Efficient resource utilization becomes a major concern as large-scale distributed computing infrastructures keep growing in size. Malleability, the possibility for resource managers to dynamically increase or decrease the amount of resources allocated to a job, is a promising way to save energy and costs. However, state-of-the-art parallel and distributed storage systems have not been designed with malleability in mind. The reason is mainly the supposedly high cost of data transfers required by resizing operations. Nevertheless, as network and storage technologies evolve, old assumptions about potential bottlenecks can be revisited. In this study, we evaluate the viability of malleability as a design principle for a distributed storage system. We specifically model the minimal duration of the commission and decommission operations. To show how our models can be used in practice, we evaluate the performance of these operations in HDFS, a relevant state-of-the-art distributed file system. We show that the existing decommission mechanism of HDFS is good when the network is the bottleneck, but can be accelerated by up to a factor 3 when storage is the limiting factor. We also show that the commission in HDFS can be substantially accelerated. With the highlights provided by our model, we suggest improvements to speed both operations in HDFS. We discuss how the proposed models can be generalized for distributed file systems with different assumptions and what perspectives are open for the design of efficient malleable distributed file systems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Scaling magnetized liner inertial fusion on Z and future pulsed-power accelerators

The MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion) concept [S. A. Slutz et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056303 (2010)] has demonstrated fusion–relevant plasma conditions [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] on the Z accelerator with a peak drive current of about 18 MA. We present 2D numerical simulations of the scaling of MagLIF on Z as a function of drive current, preheat energy, and applied magnetic field. The results indicate that deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion yields greater than 100 kJ could be possible on Z when all of these parameters are at the optimum values: i.e., peak current = 25 MA, deposited preheat energy = 5 kJ, and B{sub z} = 30 T. Much higher yields have been predicted [S. A. Slutz and R. A. Vesey, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 025003 (2012)] for MagLIF driven with larger peak currents. Two high performance pulsed-power accelerators (Z300 and Z800) based on linear-transformer-driver technology have been designed [W. A. Stygar et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 18, 110401 (2015)]. The Z300 design would provide 48 MA to a MagLIF load, while Z800 would provide 65 MA. Parameterized Thevenin-equivalent circuits were used to drive a series of 1D and 2D numerical MagLIF simulations with currents ranging from what Z can deliver now to what could be achieved by these conceptual future pulsed-power accelerators. 2D simulations of simple MagLIF targets containing just gaseous DT have yields of 18 MJ for Z300 and 440 MJ for Z800. The 2D simulated yield for Z800 is increased to 7 GJ by adding a layer of frozen DT ice to the inside of the liner.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

On the Possibility of Installing the Rapid Cycling Synchrotron of the Electron Ion Collider in the AGS Tunnel

This report describes electron injector concepts for the Electron Ion Collider (EIC) using the tunnel of the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) of Brookhaven National Laboratory which is to be compared to the RCS in the RHIC tunnel or a new ring in a new tunnel. Possible designs of the electron booster synchrotron, the Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS) with good spin transparency with electron energies of up to 10 GeV and 18 GeV and placing the injector linac in the adjacent Building 912 for are worked out. The main reason for studying such options is the expectation that it will reduce the Electron Ion Collider injector cost because no civil construction is required, the machine is very compact, and existing infrastructure can be used. The design of an RCS with a top energy of 10 GeV with good spin transparency is quite conventional. However, for collider operation with 18 GeV electrons, this option would require accelerating the 10 GeV beam in the Electron Storage Ring (ESR) to 18 GeV and relying on the Sokolov Ternov self-polarization at 18 GeV in the ESR. Solutions for an RCS with Electron energies of up to 18 GeV with or without spin transparency are found to be possible but push the envelope of conventional magnet technology.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Magnets for a Muon Collider—Needs and Plans

We describe the magnet challenges for a Muon Collider, an exciting option considered for the future of particle physics at the energy frontier. Starting from the comprehensive work performed by the US Muon Accelerator Program, we have reviewed the performance specifications dictated by beam physics and the operating conditions to satisfy the accelerator needs. Among the many magnets that make up a muon collider, we have identified four systems that represent well the envelope of challenges: the target and capture solenoid, the final cooling solenoid, the accelerator dipoles and the collider dipoles. These systems provide focus for the development of novel concepts, largely based on HTS for reasons of performance, cost and sustainability. After giving a consolidated overview of the needs for the magnet systems, we describe here the basic technology options considered, and the plan for design and development activities.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Report on Oak Ridge National Laboratory Testing of Ambient Cure TransPowr E3X®

A key to industry acceptance of a new technology is extensive validation in field trials. The Powerline Conductor Accelerated Test facility (PCAT) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is specifically designed to evaluate the performance and reliability of novel overhead conductor and conductor instrumentation under field conditions. The facility is set up to capture large amounts of data during testing. General Cable used the ORNL PCAT facility to validate the performance of TransPowr® with Ambient Cure E3X™ Technology—a standard overhead conductor with a high emissivity, low absorptivity ambient cure surface coating. Extensive testing has demonstrated a significant improvement in conductor performance across a wide range of operating temperatures with respect to uncoated conductor of the same type, indicating that E3X Technology can provide a reduction in temperature, a reduction in sag, and an increase in ampacity when applied to the surface of any overhead conductor. This report provides results of that testing.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

High-Field Nb3Sn Cos-theta Dipole with Stress Management

Cost-effective superconducting dipole magnets with operating fields up to 16 T are being considered for the LHC en-ergy upgrade (HE-LHC) and a Future Circular Collider (FCC). To demonstrate feasibility of 15 T accelerator quality dipole mag-nets, FNAL as a part of the US-MDP is developing a single-aper-ture Nb3Sn dipole demonstrator based on a 4-layer graded cos-theta coil with 60 mm aperture and cold iron yoke. In parallel, to explore the limit of the Nb3Sn accelerator magnet technology, op-timize magnet design and performance parameters, and reduce magnet cost, magnet design studies are also being performed to push the nominal bore field to 16 T in a 60-mm aperture cos-theta dipole. Results of these studies are reported and discussed in this paper.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

FracML: A Machine Learning Based Tool to Quantify Reservoir Scale Fracture Network for CO2 Storage

Poster on “FRACML: A Machine Learning Based Tool to Quantify Reservoir Scale Fracture Network for CO2 Storage” for the CCUS 2025 conference held in Houston, Texas March 3-5, 2025. The accurate characterization of subsurface fracture networks is essential for the secure operation of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects. A thorough understanding of the spatial distribution of subsurface faults and fractures is crucial for predicting CO2 plume evolution and minimizing risks such as potential leakage into overlying formations or induced seismicity. In this context, robust fracture network quantification plays a pivotal role in reservoir management, providing the data necessary to fine-tune operational parameters, and ensure the environmental and economic viability of CCUS projects. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SMART (Science-informed Machine Learning for Accelerating Real-time Decisions in Subsurface Applications) initiative, we focused on the development and application of a machine learning-based tool (FRACML) designed to quantify and map fracture networks using real-world (non-synthetic) data from an active CO2 injection site. Our objective is to demonstrate the utility of this tool in improving operational efficiency and safety across CCUS sites.

artifical intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML)↗

Field Validation of Electrocoagulation Treatment for Oily Wastewater at Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Mill in Cleveland, OH

The Industrial Technology Validation (ITV) program aims to identify and demonstrate the performance of new, emerging, and underutilized technologies in the industrial sector to help inform decisions towards accelerating commercialization and deployment. This initiative aims to identify, validate, and showcase new, emerging, and underutilized technologies in the industrial sector to expedite their commercialization and widespread deployment. By conducting thorough validations and demonstrating the efficacy of these technologies, the ITV program facilitates informed decision-making among industry stakeholders, contributing to the transition towards more sustainable and efficient industrial processes. This ITV demonstration involved the testing of an electrocoagulation (EC) treatment system at a steel plant in Ohio. The system was designed to treat oily wastewater generated from cold rolling operations.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Waste Management: Challenges and the Integrated Waste Strategy - 19160

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) currently faces various waste management challenges and CNL's Integrated Waste Strategy is adapting to manage them. As Canada's premier nuclear science and technology organization, CNL is a global leader in developing peaceful and innovative applications from nuclear technology through its expertise in the scientific field, including physics, metallurgy, chemistry, biology and engineering. As demands change, CNL is shifting its focus to alpha therapies for cancer treatments and sustainable energy solutions. The next decade will see CNL decommission the sites it manages across Canada, whilst transforming Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) into a new, world-class facility which will have the capability to demonstrate the commercial viability of advanced reactor designs including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). This is being enabled through an accelerated decommissioning program for all CNL operated sites, while renovating CRL, which includes revitalizing essential site infrastructure, and investment in new, world-class science facilities in a modern campus environment. With decommissioning and revitalization occurring simultaneously, the long-term strategy and vision for CNL presents some unique challenges to waste management. Therefore, integrated, collaborative and coordinated waste management is a vital component to ensuring a successful future. The Integrated Waste Strategy coordinates, and provides alignment of, waste management across CNL and: - Includes all CNL operated (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) owned) sites; - Considers all CNL managed waste (including radioactive and non-radioactive operational, decommissioning, legacy and historic waste) for the planned lifetime of the sites; - Defines waste routes using a life cycle approach (from the generation of waste to final disposal) A baseline Integrated Waste Strategy and associated action plan to mitigate identified gaps and issues have been produced. A program of work is underway to close those gaps identified in a consistent, transparent, prioritized and justified manner. One of the key challenges is to ensure that waste management planning is completed effectively and in a timely manner. This will enable the provision of suitable and sufficient waste capability to meet CNL's long-term strategy. The Integrated Waste Strategy has been developed and maintained through engagement at all levels across CNL, ensuring buy-in of proposed solutions. Key process stakeholders include generators of CNL managed waste to ensure integrated consideration of legacy, current and future waste generation; waste management personnel to identify requirements, including processing, storage, transport and disposal; AECL as the client and waste liability owner; and the public to ensure they understand the 'big picture' regarding waste strategy. (author)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

LCLS-II helium cryoplant and cryo distribution system installation

The helium cryoplant and cryo distribution system (CDS) are key elements of the new superconducting Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS-II) and will provide superfluid helium to the accelerator. The cryoplant consists of two helium refrigerators with an equivalent 4.5 K refrigeration capacity of 18 kW each. The 37 cryomodules of the LINAC will be operated at a temperature of 2.0 K to accelerate a 4 GeV electron beam that will generate extremely bright X-ray laser light. Two five-stage cold compressor cold boxes will be utilized to provide superfluid helium II for the superconducting cavity structures with a total cooling capacity of 8 kW at 2.0 K. This paper describes the installation of the LCLS-II cryoplant and CDS. The LCLS-II cryoplant was designed and contributed by Jefferson Lab. To expedite the project completion the reuse of proven design and technology from the Jefferson Lab CHL-2 cryoplant was the preferred strategy. The CDS consists of ~260 m thermally shielded and vacuum super insulated transfer lines, two distribution boxes and eight feed and end caps, and was designed and contributed by Fermilab. SLAC installed the cryoplant components into a newly erected building and the CDS components into the existing accelerator tunnel and klystron gallery with strong engineering support from both partner labs.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

High-Propellant Throughput Sub-kW Electric Propulsion System for Deep Space Science and Exploration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is maturing high-propellant throughput sub-kilowatt electric propulsion technologies to enable small spacecraft deep space science and exploration missions with high delta-v requirements. The pathfinder model (PM) propulsion system consists of the H71M-PM Hall-effect thruster, a breadboard 1-kW power processing unit (PPU), and a propellant flow control system. The propulsion system requirements balance the needs of various high delta-v NASA and commercial industry mission concepts to achieve a design that both enables a variety of NASA small spacecraft deep space missions, while remaining viable for select commercial applications. The H71M-PM thruster has completed performance characterization and three 500-h short duration wear tests (SDWT). The propulsion system provides stable thrust generation over a wide range of operating conditions from 200 W to 1 kW, and 200 V to 400 V. The thruster has demonstrated a thrust as high as 68 mN at 300 V and 1 kW. The thruster has similarly demonstrated a specific impulse of 1850 s at 400 V and 1 kW. Key surfaces were machined between each SDWT to simulate accelerated discharge channel and pole cover erosion. Profilometry scans across masked pole cover surfaces were conducted to determine erosion rates. SDWT results support that a target thruster lifetime of 14 kh with 50% margin is achievable. Component testing has demonstrated propellant azimuthal flow uniformity better than ± 2 percent of the nominal value, azimuthal magnetic field uniformity better than ± 0.5 percent of the nominal value, and cathode heater cycle testing to greater than 30,000 cycles. Propulsion system integrated system testing is planned to use the H71M-PM and a breadboard 1-kW PPU. Pathfinder model test results are now supporting the design of the H71M-EM engineering model thruster. A second-generation breadboard PPU has been fabricated and is currently under test. NASA has made these technologies available to U.S. industry through a no cost, nonexclusive license agreement.

Hall↗

Future Circular Collider Feasibility Study Report

Volume 1 of the FCC Feasibility Report presents an overview of the physics case, experimental programme, and detector concepts for the Future Circular Collider (FCC). This volume outlines how FCC would address some of the most profound open questions in particle physics, from precision studies of the Higgs and EW bosons and of the top quark, to the exploration of physics beyond the Standard Model. The report reviews the experimental opportunities offered by the staged implementation of FCC, beginning with an electron-positron collider (FCC-ee), operating at several centre-of-mass energies, followed by a hadron collider (FCC-hh). Benchmark examples are given of the expected physics performance, in terms of precision and sensitivity to new phenomena, of each collider stage. Detector requirements and conceptual designs for FCC-ee experiments are discussed, as are the specific demands that the physics programme imposes on the accelerator in the domains of the calibration of the collision energy, and the interface region between the accelerator and the detector. The report also highlights advances in detector, software and computing technologies, as well as the theoretical tools/reconstruction techniques that will enable the precision measurements and discovery potential of the FCC experimental programme. The content and structure of this report are guided by the scope and priorities defined in the mandate of the FCC Feasibility Study. It is therefore not intended to serve as an exhaustive review of the full physics potential of FCC. Several topics, already covered in earlier reports such as the FCC CDR, are not reiterated here or are addressed only briefly, in alignment with the study’s focus. This volume reflects the outcome of a global collaborative effort involving hundreds of scientists and institutions, aided by a dedicated community-building coordination, and provides a targeted assessment of the scientific opportunities and experimental foundations of the FCC programme.

Benedikt, M. [European Organization for Nuclear Re↗

On Shaft Data Acquisition System (OSDAS)

On Shaft Data Acquisition System (OSDAS) is a rugged, compact, multiple-channel data acquisition computer system that is designed to record data from instrumentation while operating under extreme rotational centrifugal or gravitational acceleration forces. This system, which was developed for the Heritage Fuel Air Turbine Test (HFATT) program, addresses the problem of recording multiple channels of high-sample-rate data on most any rotating test article by mounting the entire acquisition computer onboard with the turbine test article. With the limited availability of slip ring wires for power and communication, OSDAS utilizes its own resources to provide independent power and amplification for each instrument. Since OSDAS utilizes standard PC technology as well as shared code interfaces with the next-generation, real-time health monitoring system (SPARTAA Scalable Parallel Architecture for Real Time Analysis and Acquisition), this system could be expanded beyond its current capabilities, such as providing advanced health monitoring capabilities for the test article. High-conductor-count slip rings are expensive to purchase and maintain, yet only provide a limited number of conductors for routing instrumentation off the article and to a stationary data acquisition system. In addition to being limited to a small number of instruments, slip rings are prone to wear quickly, and introduce noise and other undesirable characteristics to the signal data. This led to the development of a system capable of recording high-density instrumentation, at high sample rates, on the test article itself, all while under extreme rotational stress. OSDAS is a fully functional PC-based system with 48 channels of 24-bit, high-sample-rate input channels, phase synchronized, with an onboard storage capacity of over 1/2-terabyte of solid-state storage. This recording system takes a novel approach to the problem of recording multiple channels of instrumentation, integrated with the test article itself, packaged in a compact/rugged form factor, consuming limited power, all while rotating at high turbine speeds.

Pedings, Marc↗

Design of a high-power compact SRF linac for industrial applications of e-beam irradiation

Fermilab has developed a novel concept for an industrial electron linac using Nb3Sn coating technology and conduction cooling. These conduction-cooled linacs can generate electron beam energies up to 10 MeV in continuous-wave operation and reach higher power (>=1 MW) by combing several modules. Compact and light enough to mount on mobile platforms, our machine is anticipated to enable new in-situ environmental remediation applications such as waste-water treatment for urban areas, X-ray medical device sterilization, and innovative pavement applications. We highlight a few aspects of a 1 MW design of such a machine in this paper. A detailed plan is in Dhuley et al. (2022) Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 25, 041601.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗