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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 OSTI2018

The High Capacity Type B Waste Transport Cask to Serve Dismantling Project - 18344

The United States have already announced around 20 reactor shutdown and many more in the next 10 year. Financial constraints on plant operators and the low cost of fossil energy contribute to accelerate the shutdown of additional reactors. The industry has been gaining experience with reactor dismantling and is continuously trying to improve the cost efficiency of the upcoming projects. To do so, larger and more capacitive transport casks are needed to transport increasing volume of Low Level Waste (LLW) at a more attractive cost. Waste disposal is also a major cost element in a dismantling project. Consequently, the capacity to segment, package and transport the waste in the most optimized configuration will result in significant cost savings. While for LLW, the constraints for package requirements are limited, activated waste resulting mainly from reactor vessel and vessel internals segmentation require additional shielding to meet disposal and transportation regulations. The key element to succeed is the availability on the market of a licensed type B transport package with a larger payload that allows at the same time an optimization of the waste segmentation. AREVA TN has designed and licensed versatile high capacity type B casks for the transport of spent fuel canisters as part of the NUHOMS{sup R} system that can also be used to transport radioactive waste. While it will take a few more years to transport spent fuel to a consolidated interim storage facility and even more to a repository, the type B casks can be used to transport activated LLW from dismantled reactors to disposal sites. A first of a kind project will be performed with AREVA's partner NorthStar at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. AREVA's team will perform the reactor segmentation and package the material into an AREVA's large capacity type B cask. This unmatched cask capacity is expected to significantly decrease the LLW disposal costs, as well as the onsite operations costs, while optimizing the schedule. The package will be transported by rail to waste disposal facilities. This paper will present the main characteristics of the package, provide an update of the overall schedule, and explain the innovations that contribute to simpler and more cost effective transport and operation. Finally, it will emphasize the benefits of using larger type B casks for immediate and future transportation needs. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

Safe and Secure Management of Disused Radioactive Sealed Sources in Egypt - 19063

Radioactive sources offer many benefits in medicine, industry and education but the lack of appropriate long-term management when they eventually become disused has led to accidents, in some cases with serious consequences, and increased their vulnerability for use in a malicious act. This lack is evident in the absence of clearly defined policy and strategy, responsibilities and resources to meet those responsibilities for safe, secure and sustainable management of disused sources. The strengthening of national legislative and regulatory infrastructures globally has led to major improvements in the protection and control of radioactive sources. Nevertheless, in many countries, radioactive sources were in use before such infrastructures had been developed or adequately strengthened and were therefore not under regulatory control. The paper presents some aspects from Egyptian experience related to safe and secure measures for management of Cs-137, Ra-226 and Co-60 sealed sources. Data relating to the disused radioactive sealed sources, DSRS inventory as well as the arrangements made in order to prepare for conditioning of sources is presented. The efforts made by technical staff and radiation protection team for all arrangements and details such as conditioning set-up, working area, leakage test, certified stainless capsules, radiation protection measures and sources characterization in addition to all security measures for stored DSRS are also presented. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Error Analysis of CM Data Products Input Distributions

This goal of this project is to address the current inability to assess the overall error and uncertainty of data products developed and distributed by DOE’s Consequence Management (CM) Program.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Integrating regulatory, programmatic and technical needs for modeling tools to support decision-making - 15219

The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), Office of Soil and Groundwater Remediation, is supporting development of the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM provides a modeling work-flow to support decision-making for site restoration, tank closure and waste management activities. Potential users involved in regulatory applications (e.g., performance and risk assessments and other activities supporting regulatory decisions) are a key target group for the tool-set. Decision-making in these applications often requires consideration of multiple perspectives, including: regulators and the public, oversight and project management personnel, as well as practitioners involved in conducting the calculations, each with different interests. From its inception, a key objective of the ASCEM project has been to actively seek input from these different user perspectives to help guide development. ASCEM formed a User Steering Committee (USC) with membership representing interests from management/staff at DOE Site Contractors, DOE-HQ and Field offices and Regulators (State and Federal). The project also provides opportunities for input from the broader user community through participation in meetings of the Performance and Risk Assessment (P and RA) Community of Practice (CoP), routine briefings and participation in meetings of the Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility Federal Review Group, and direct interactions with users involved in regulatory applications. Interactions with users involved in regulatory applications have influenced the requirements for the tool-sets and are reflected in capabilities that have been and are being implemented. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Authorization to proceed with production engineering for the waste treatment and immobilization plant's high-level waste facility - 15595

The U.S. Department of Energy restricted certain engineering, procurement, and construction work on the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant's (WTP) Pretreatment Facility, and to a lesser degree the High-Level Waste (HLW) Facility in 2012 and early 2013 because of the impact of unresolved technical issues on the facility design, and a misalignment between the facility design and nuclear safety basis. The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection (ORP) needed a way to minimize project management risk, while continuing limited critical path construction work for the HLW Facility and resolving the technical and safety basis issues. ORP developed a process to systematically address and resolve the technical, management, and quality issues that led DOE to restrict HLW Facility production activities in 2012 and 2013. This process provided for a phased resumption of HLW engineering, procurement, and construction activities on an incremental basis and a final decision for release to full production. In August 2014, ORP provided authorization for the WTP contractor to resume all engineering work necessary to finalize the HLW Facility design. The decision to proceed with production engineering in the HLW Facility, representing the first of two decision points, was based on significant progress in resolving HLW technical issues and improving work processes to align the HLW design and safety basis. Full release for HLW equipment procurements and construction is forthcoming based on conditions that must be fully satisfied and demonstrated during a transition period expected to continue for the next few years. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2018

Upgrading the JET Remote Handling System - 18356

The Joint European Torus (JET) has employed advanced remote-maintenance techniques for over three decades to avoid exposing humans to a potentially hazardous environment and to develop techniques for future power-generating fusion reactors where environments will be too hazardous for any manned maintenance. As a unique application of robotics, virtual reality and operations management systems, JET's remote handling unit, now a part of RACE, has driven the state-of-the-art with each upgrade programme in its history. This conference paper presents the current capabilities of the JET remote handling system, and the future capabilities being delivered by its latest upgrade programme, which makes use of cutting edge advances. RACE (Remote Applications in Challenging Environments) aims to shape the technologies being developed for JET in such a way that they will have wider applications, such as in nuclear decommissioning. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

Development of an Alternative Approach to Demonstrating Environmental Performance in the UK - 19354

European basic safety standards require that exposure of humans to the potentially harmful effects of ionising radiation are optimised so that they are as low as reasonably achievable, taking account of economic and societal factors. In the United Kingdom the responsibility for ensuring that exposures to humans are optimised is split between two regulatory functions. The Office of Nuclear Regulation regulates exposures to workers in all scenarios and to members of the public in the event of an accident. Environmental regulators in each of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom regulate exposures to members of the public from normal operations. Since the early 1990's, all permissions granted to nuclear sites in the UK for the discharge/disposal of radioactive waste to the environment have contained conditions requiring holders to demonstrate that they minimise the generation of radioactive waste, apply appropriate abatement and discharge/dispose of it in a way that minimises impacts on members of the public and the environment. For many years, the industry standard for providing this demonstration, which was heavily influenced by regulatory expectations and feedback, was to undertake one or a series of multi-attribute decision assessments (MADA). Wood's team of environmental specialists has been involved in undertaking such MADA studies for many years. Since the mid-2000's, our team has become increasingly aware of some of the limitations of undertaking MADA to demonstrate environmental performance for large scale new nuclear build projects and, in particular, the next generation of new nuclear power stations that are being planned and implemented in the UK. We have collaborated with the vendors of reactor technologies, the prospective/owner operators of new nuclear power stations and the developers of new facilities on existing sites to develop an alternative approach to demonstrating environmental performance. Our alternative approach comprises three main pillars which are summarised as: - Evolution - benefit from progressive improvements, operational experience and recent permitting activities. Our alternative approach uses the claim, argument, evidence approach which is commonly used for nuclear safety cases and which allows us to 'tell the story' of how environmental performance has been achieved. We have successfully deployed this approach for all new nuclear power stations proposed in the UK. - Integration - ensure that optimisation is integrated into the project programme and forms part of the 'big picture'. Our alternative approach allows environmental performance to be managed better throughout the life cycle of the project and ensures that our outputs are 'living' documents and do not 'sit on the shelf'. We have successfully demonstrated how this can be applied during rationalisation of major schemes and significant design changes on nuclear new build projects. - Opportunity - identify the best time to deliver elements of the programme. Our alternative approach aims to minimise the overall time, trouble and costs associated with demonstrating environmental performance by ensuring that decisions are made at the time when they offer greatest benefit and by minimising unnecessary rework. Our advice has helped to reduce the project costs and minimise delays associated with regulatory queries and interventions. This paper describes the journey that we have taken with our clients in developing our alternative approach to demonstrating environmental performance. We explain the UK regulatory context and explore the need for change. We present a number of case studies related to new nuclear power stations and other new facilities on existing nuclear sites that demonstrate the successful application of our alternative approach. We provide examples of how we have successfully implemented the outputs of our alternative approach into project and corporate management arrangements. Finally, we examine feedback from clients, regulators and other interested parties to propose future refinements. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2023

Reliability and Integrity Management Scoping Study

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is developing the regulatory framework and technical expertise to support regulatory review of advanced non-light water reactor (ANLWR) designs. The NRC staff expects most of these designs to use the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) Section XI, Division 2 “Requirements for Reliability and Integrity Management (RIM) Programs for Nuclear Power Plants” for developing and implementing pre-service inspection (PSI) and in-service inspection (ISI) programs. The NRC recently endorsed ASME BPVC Section XI, Division 2 (BPV XI-2) in Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.246. This new ASME code is yet to be used in any applications submitted for NRC review. This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge and practices within the industry for the use of BPV XI-2 for the development and implementation of a PSI and ISI program for non-light water reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

French Geological Disposal Project: From Siting to Permitting - 19018

The future 'Cigeo' geological repository will be located in eastern France, at the border between the Meuse and Haute-Marne. Research has been carried out in this area since the 1990's, leading to the identification of a zone within the Paris basin whose geological characteristics make it suitable for the deep geological disposal of high- and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste, as well as a smaller zone of approximately 250 km{sup 2} (proposed in 2005) within which the characteristics of the host layer are very similar to those observed in the Underground Research Laboratory (URL). In 2010, based on additional surveys, a zone of approximately 30 km{sup 2} called ZIRA, in which the industrial underground facility would be constructed was defined. The repository structures within the ZIRA will be located at a depth of 525 metres. Half the surface area of the ZIRA is located in a wooded area, the other half being situated in grassland or farmland. All the subsequent design studies (preliminary and detailed) of Cigeo as well as the preparation of the licensing files (to be submitted in 2020) were conducted on the basis on this precise siting. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Solar Decathlon 2017: Final Report and Lessons Learned

Energetics Incorporated, with its project partners (collectively known as Team Energetics), has prepared the Solar Decathlon 2017 Final Report and Lessons Learned for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to summarize and reflect on the administration of the planning, implementation, and close-out of Solar Decathlon 2017. This final report introduces the Solar Decathlon 2017 Program Administrator, Core Advisory Committee, event sponsors and donors, and regional stakeholders that were integral to the success of Solar Decathlon 2017. The substantial balance of this report presents evaluative metrics and lessons learned about the primary aspects of administering Solar Decathlon 2017, including Project Management, Competition and Site Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Communications, Sponsor Management, Education Programming, and Volunteer Coordination. Several appendices compliment the discussion.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nevada National Security Site Environmental Report 2018

This report presents the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office environmental protection and monitoring programs data and the compliance status for calendar year 2018 at the Nevada National Security Site and at its two support facilities, the North Las Vegas Facility and the Remote Sensing Laboratory-Nellis. This report also addresses environmental restoration projects conducted by the Environmental Management Nevada Program Office at the Tonopah Test Range.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nevada National Security Site Environmental Report 2019

This report presents the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office environmental protection and monitoring programs data and the compliance status for calendar year 2019 at the Nevada National Security Site and at its two support facilities, the North Las Vegas Facility and the Remote Sensing Laboratory-Nellis. This report also addresses environmental restoration projects conducted by the Environmental Management Nevada Program Office at the Tonopah Test Range.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

International Good Practice in Preparing for Decommissioning - 18404

The transition of a nuclear facility from operation to the implementation of dismantling is a critical phase in every decommissioning project. Several organizational and technical modifications are needed to adapt the facility to meet the new objectives and requirements. A variety of activities need to be planned and performed to support the transition and to prepare the dismantling of the facility. Experience has shown that it is essential to start with preparations for decommissioning at a very early stage, at best already during the design stage of the facility but at least during the operational stage. The preparation of the transition for decommissioning and dismantling (D and D) is a key issue for the success of the global D and D project to minimize delays and undue costs; to optimize personnel and other resources; and to initiate preparatory activities for decommissioning in a planned, timely and cost-effective manner and thus to ensure safe and efficient decommissioning. With the growing number of nuclear facilities reaching the decommissioning stage, the Working Party on Decommissioning and Dismantling (WPDD) within the Nuclear Energy Agency of OECD formed the Task Group on Preparing for Decommissioning. This group of experts include regulators, nuclear operators and independent experts to review the strategic aspects to optimize the preparations for decommissioning from the last years of operation onwards. This paper gives and overview of the work carried out by TGPFD between 2015 and 2017 and covers strategic approaches, issues and risks and observations of good practice rather than providing detailed descriptions of methods or technologies. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

H-Canyon facility remains a national asset after finding innovative solution to funding issues - 15278

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of missions for the H-Canyon facility at the Savannah River Site, as its capabilities are being recognized as an increasingly important asset for the Department of Energy (U.S. DOE). The sustainability of that asset was called into question in 2011, when funding from U.S. DOE's Environmental Management (EM) program became insufficient to sustain processing. Through the acquisition of new customers, funding was restored and H Canyon missions have seen new life. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2015

Starting DIADEM medium-level waste interim storage's construction - 15034

As part of its decommissioning policy, the nuclear energy division of CEA has identified materials whose high enough radioactive features authorize neither sustainable storage in existing facilities nor evacuation to a French operational geological disposal. Pending availability of definitive solutions, it was decided to explore the possibility to store these materials in a new installation, the subject of DIADEM project [1]. The need was first identified in Marcoule's site, especially to accommodate future waste dismantling of Phenix reactor. Quickly the interest of a centralized storage for all CEA waste of this type appeared to bring together the best expertise to the design and operation of storage. Waste will be stored either to use benefits of radioactive decay or to wait for the commissioning of a new disposal. DIADEM is designed for an operating estimated lifetime of fifty years. This paper deals with the prior safety assessment completed in 2014, the project management and the first steps of the facility construction. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

The Development of a Small-Scale Project Model for Waste Management at the Port Hope Conversion Facility - 19126

Cameco Corporation's (Cameco) Port Hope Conversion Facility (PHCF) was previously owned by the federal Crown Corporation, Eldorado Nuclear, which held a significant inventory of legacy waste material at the time Cameco was formed in 1988. Over time, Cameco's ongoing operations contributed to an increase in the volume of low-level radioactive waste managed onsite. Since 2011, Cameco has completed annual waste management campaigns with the goal of accelerating the recycle/disposal of accumulated legacy radioactive wastes stored at its Ontario operations. With disposal options for low-level radioactively contaminated wastes in Canada limited due to cost considerations and no commercially accessible landfills licensed for radioactive material. In recent years, Cameco has started to ship marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) to the United States for disposal in an appropriate landfill owned by US Ecology in Idaho. Numerous successful campaigns totaling over 1,000 successful shipments, have been completed to transport drummed and/or bagged material by rail in gondola cars to the disposal facility in Idaho since 2011. All shipments have been completed in compliance with all environmental regulations, with a perfect compliance record maintained to date. To achieve this excellent compliance record, the campaigns require careful planning by both organizations, as well as deployment of personnel from the Idaho facility during the campaign for project management, characterization and/or radiation monitoring support. As the accumulated waste inventory has been reduced through these projects, the scope and duration of each campaign has also decreased. In the last few years, road transport directly to the Idaho facility has also been utilized. This option allows for the deployment of small projects that may be completed for a smaller inventory of a specific waste type and to manage newly-generated low-level radioactive wastes on an ongoing basis. These projects have ranged from a single standard van shipment to multiple trucks running continuous loops between the Ontario and Idaho or Ontario and an intermediary site and have been utilized for marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) as well as marginally contaminated wastes with additional hazard classification. Cameco and US Ecology personnel have collaborated to develop characterization and shipment procedures that enable these projects to be executed in full compliance with all Canadian and US regulations, without deployment of personnel from the Idaho facility, while maintaining adequate oversight by both organizations to ensure that the waste is safely and compliantly managed. These protocols have been implemented and optimized for the Port Hope Conversion Facility and will be rolled out to other Cameco facilities in Ontario through 2019. Cameco expects to utilize the small project model for the long term to ensure that eligible marginally contaminated wastes (<500 ppm uranium) are managed appropriately to ensure that once the legacy material is eliminated, it remains so. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2019

Conceptual Design of the Belgian Geological Disposal Facility for Category B and C Wastes - 19341

For more than 40 years, ONDRAF/NIRAS (the federal agency responsible for managing radioactive waste and enriched fissile materials in Belgium) has been studying the concept of a geological disposal facility (GDF), within poorly indurated clays, as an option for the long-term management of both category B waste (low-level and intermediate-level long-lived waste - LILW-LL) and category C waste (high-level waste - HLW and spent fuel). The proposed Belgian reference option for disposal of such waste is a GDF within poorly indurated clays, located at a depth of between 200 m and 600 m. Within the framework of the first Safety and Feasibility Case (SFC-1) undertaken by ONDRAF/NIRAS, the former GDF layout, which dates back from 2003 has been updated. The first part of the paper describes the main drivers behind the evolution of the former 2003 GDF design towards the current reference SFC-1 design. It also details how these drivers, related to operational and constructional constraints, have affected the GDF layout, such as the disposal gallery length, the crossing shapes of the GDF galleries and the layout of access and waste shafts. The second part of the paper focuses on the engineering and construction challenges generated by GDF development within poorly indurated clays. This includes discussion of the impact of the specific mechanical characteristics such poorly indurated clays have on the construction methods used for the shafts, the rock support (concrete lining), the drift connections, the crossings and the global GDF design. These construction methods have been selected based on research conducted at the underground research laboratory HADES in Mol (Belgium). Finally, the main axes for further development of the GDF design within the SFC-1 framework is presented. (authors)

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