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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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DOE OSTI2025

Preemptive optimization of a clinical antibody for broad neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants and robustness against viral escape

Most previously authorized clinical antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have lost neutralizing activity to recent variants due to rapid viral evolution. To mitigate such escape, we preemptively enhance AZD3152, an antibody authorized for prophylaxis in immunocompromised individuals. Using deep mutational scanning (DMS) on the SARS-CoV-2 antigen, we identify AZD3152 vulnerabilities at antigen positions F456 and D420. Through two iterations of computational antibody design that integrates structure-based modeling, machine-learning, and experimental validation, we co-optimize AZD3152 against 24 contemporary and previous SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as 20 potential future escape variants. Our top candidate, 3152-1142, restores full potency (100-fold improvement) against the more recently emerged XBB.1.5+F456L variant that escaped AZD3152, maintains potency against previous variants of concern, and shows no additional vulnerability as assessed by DMS. This preemptive mitigation demonstrates a generalizable approach for optimizing existing antibodies against potential future viral escape.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Publisher Erratum: A gravity-based mounting approach for large-scale cryogenic calorimeter arrays

In the originally published version of this article, several errors were identified in the author list and acknowledgements section. These have now been corrected as follows: Corrections to the Author List: Barrera has been corrected to Barresi. Copello (affiliation 18) has been corrected to Copello (affiliation 19). F. De Domizio has been corrected to S. Di Domizio. Figueros-Feliciamo has been corrected to Figueroa-Feliciano. Mancarella (affiliations 8, 17) has been corrected to Mancarella (affiliations 8, 18). Manenti (affiliations 18, 19) has been corrected to Manenti (affiliations 19, 20). Mayer (affiliations 3, 20, 31) has been corrected to Mayer (affiliations 3, 21, 31). Pagot has been corrected to Pageot. Puranam (affiliation 20) has been corrected to Puranam (affiliation 21). O. Penek has been corrected to Ö. Penek. L. Pettinacci has been corrected to V. Pettinacci. P. Pirro has been corrected to S. Pirro. Previtale has been corrected to Previtali. Rappoldi (affiliation 18) has been corrected to Rappoldi (affiliation 19). Raselli (affiliation 18) has been corrected to Raselli (affiliation 19). Rizzoli (affiliations 8, 17) has been corrected to Rizzoli (affiliations 8, 18). Rossella (affiliation 18) has been corrected to Rossella (affiliation 19). Correction to the Acknowledgements Section: The following grant numbers were missing and have now been added: This work was supported by NSF-PHY-2412377 and NSF-PHY-1913374. Additionally, on page 11, Section 5, second line, the chemical formula was incorrectly given as Li 2 MO 4 . The correct formula is Li 2 MoO 4 . The original article has been updated to reflect these corrections. The publisher apologizes for the inconvenience.

Alfonso, K. [Virginia Polytechnic Institute and St↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data-Driven Compositional Optimization in Misspecified Regimes

With a manifold growth in the scale and intricacy of systems, the challenges of parametric misspecification become pronounced. These concerns are further exacerbated in compositional settings, which emerge in problems complicated by modeling risk and robustness. In “Data-Driven Compositional Optimization in Misspecified Regimes,” the authors consider the resolution of compositional stochastic optimization problems, plagued by parametric misspecification. In considering settings where such misspecification may be resolved via a parallel learning process, the authors develop schemes that can contend with diverse forms of risk, dynamics, and nonconvexity. They provide asymptotic and rate guarantees for unaccelerated and accelerated schemes for convex, strongly convex, and nonconvex problems in a two-level regime with extensions to the multilevel setting. Surprisingly, the nonasymptotic rate guarantees show no degradation from the rate statements obtained in a correctly specified regime and the schemes achieve optimal (or near-optimal) sample complexities for general T-level strongly convex and nonconvex compositional problems.

Business & Economics↗
DOE OSTI2025

2025 Peregrine in-situ monitoring and training dataset for laser powder bed fusion and binder jet printers

Peregrine, a software tool developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), was used to collect and analyze in-situ monitoring (ISM) data from a Concept Laser M2 (Colibrium Additive) laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) printer and an ExOne Innovent (Desktop Metal) binder jet printer. Data for four builds (print jobs) were saved to HDF5 (high performance data) files for release. Additionally, process anomalies were annotated by the authors across 37 image stacks (i.e., print layers) and are also provided as HDF5 files.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Environmental Impacts of Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower

The goal of this report is to help license applicants, resource agencies, and other members of the hydropower community involved in closed-loop pumped storage hydropower permitting and licensing process, focus the scope of environmental reviews, and more quickly identify impacts with project nexus and potential mitigation measures for these impacts. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is an energy storage technology that uses energy to pump water up from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir where water is stored until electricity is needed and the water is released to a lower reservoir passing through turbines. Closed-loop PSH—PSH that is not continuously connected to a naturally flowing water feature—is one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitting energy storage technologies and is therefore a critical part of the transition to renewable energy (Simon et al. 2023). Proposals for closed-loop PSH facilities in the United States currently account for more than 40% of original licenses and 99% of potential generation capacity in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hydropower licensing pipeline (Johnson et al. 2023). While closed-loop PSH facilities can have lower environmental impacts than open-loop PSH facilities, no closed-loop facilities have been constructed in the United States to enable direct accounting of project impacts and efficacy of mitigations. Many proposals for closed-loop PSH submitted to FERC are abandoned early in the permitting and licensing process prior to license applications and environmental assessments, so there is little documentation describing potential project impacts and proposed mitigations. The newness of closed-loop PSH proposals in the United States may mean that tribal, federal, and state agencies with authorities for cultural and natural resources protection and management involved in the FERC licensing process may not have experience with closed-loop PSH regulation. Moreover, many proposed closed-loop PSH facilities are in areas that do not have high concentrations of conventional hydropower, so these agencies may also be unfamiliar with the FERC hydropower licensing process. The goal of this report is to help license applicants, resource agencies, and other members of the hydropower community focus the scope of environmental review for the closed-loop PSH development, licensing, and federal authorization process enabling quicker identification of potential impacts, mitigations, and situations where mitigation may not be possible. We found that environmental impacts of closed-loop PSH are highly site-specific, and generalizations about the types of environmental impacts across closed-loop PSH projects are difficult to make. Environmental impacts of closed-loop PSH are like those for open-loop PSH with a few exceptions including water sourcing, which can lead to delays and contention due to potential complexities with water rights, impacts to aquatic resources, and greenhouse gas emission potential. Cultural resource impacts were commonly reported in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents reviewed and discussed in interviews, but in many cases such impacts cannot be mitigated.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Federal Home-to-Work Electric Vehicle Program Guide

This document serves as a comprehensive resource for Federal agencies in developing their own program resources that promote the efficient and effective use of electric vehicles (EVs) for home-to-work travel while ensuring compliance with Federal regulations and sustainability objectives. One mission of the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Fleet program is to help federal fleet managers meet or exceed statutory requirements related to energy and environmental performance while improving overall fleet efficiency, reducing costs, and meeting mission requirements. To further this mission, FEMP provides resources to support Federal agencies with increasing alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) acquisitions and reducing petroleum use. EVs are AFVs and help agencies meet federal fleet requirements. Federal fleets include government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. The purpose of this document is to serve as a guide for Federal agencies in developing their own internal program documents to manage government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. Federal agencies should consult their counsel and consider their own policies and authorities in the implementation of any policies or best practices regarding government-owned EVs used for home-to-work travel. The guide provides key considerations for agencies, including launching a pilot program to fine-tune best practices, conducting a cost-benefit analysis to compare home versus public charging, and exploring cost-effective solutions, such as installing standard outlets instead of dedicated charging stations. The guide underscores the importance of legal and financial considerations, such as verifying agency authority to install home charging infrastructure at an employee's home, ensuring the availability and appropriateness of using agency funds for home charging infrastructure, and understanding the tax implications of reimbursements.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Recertification of the DOE 9978 Type B Package: Lessons L

The history and limited use of the 9978 Type B package history represents a complex case story. Unprecedented delays (from Covid-19) caused the annual maintenance of nine loaded 9978 packages to expire before the actual shipments were initiated. Additionally, with the delays, the content amendment authorizing the Pu and Am standards as authorized content expired, hence additionally requiring a full SARP revision prior to making the shipments

Ketusky, Edward T. [Savannah River National Labora↗
DOE OSTI2025

Annual Status Report (FY 2024): Performance Assessment for the Integrated Disposal Facility

The purpose of this Annual Summary Report (ASR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 is to evaluate the continued adequacy of the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) Performance Assessment (PA) and Disposal Authorization Statement (DAS). This report consolidates relevant monitoring data, modeling analyses, and regulatory reviews to demonstrate a reasonable expectation that the PA objectives and performance measures will be met, as required under DOE O 435.1. The ASR follows the guidance in DOE-STD-5002-2017, which provides a framework for maintaining the validity of the DAS through periodic assessment of facility performance and compliance with waste disposal requirements. The IDF is a near-surface disposal facility designed to receive and permanently dispose of low-level waste (LLW) and mixed low-level waste (MLLW) generated from Hanford Site operations. The facility consists of two double-lined disposal cells equipped with leak detection and leachates recovery systems to ensure environmental protection. Waste planned for disposal includes vitrified low-activity waste (LAW) and solid secondary waste (SSW) from the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). At the end of FY 2024, the IDF had not yet received any waste, as it remains in a pre-operational state. Disposal activities will begin with the hot commissioning of the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility using the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach in Calendar Year (CY) 2025. This ASR justifies the continued adequacy of the PA and DAS by reviewing key documents and data sources. these sources are listed in Table A-2 in Appendix A.4): The Operating Disposal Authorization Statement (ODAS) for the IDF (DOE-EM, 2021) remains in effect, with no outstanding conditions or key issues affecting its implementation. Based on the comprehensive review of PA analyses, monitoring data, and regulatory compliance activities, this ASR concludes that the IDF remains in compliance with DOE O 435.1, and there is reasonable assurance that the PA performance objectives will be met once disposal operations commence in CY 2025.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Alaska Liquid Natural Gas Pipeline Front-End Engineering & Design (Final Technical Report)

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) is Alaska’s natural gas infrastructure development corporation established in 2013. AGDC’s mission is to maximize the benefit of Alaska’s vast North Slope natural gas resources for Alaskans through the development of infrastructure necessary to move the gas into local and international markets. AGDC was identified for a Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) project for funding in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 under the heading: “Congressionally Directed Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects.” The CDS included $\$$4,000,000 of direct funding, with required match funds, to move the project forward. Alaska’s North Slope holds America’s largest proven and conventional natural gas supply. The integrated Alaska LNG Project will deliver 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Alaska’s North Slope gas fields to Alaskans as well as to a marine terminal located at tidewater in Cook Inlet. Alaska LNG is an integrated gas infrastructure project with three major components: a gas treatment plant (GTP) located at Prudhoe Bay, an 807-mile (1,287 km) gas pipeline (Mainline Pipeline) to Southcentral Alaska with interconnections for in-state gas use, and a natural gas liquefaction facility (LNG Facility) in Nikiski, Alaska. The integrated Alaska LNG Project has several strategic advantages including proven gas resources, existing upstream infrastructure, an advantageous arctic climate for LNG production, proximity to LNG markets, a track record of reliability from a state that first began exporting LNG to Japan in 1969, and broad support from Alaskans. North Slope natural gas is a conventional resource and can be produced with minimal drilling at a fraction of the carbon dioxide emissions of shale gas from the Lower 48 states. Through the development of the Alaska LNG Project, Alaska can provide energy security to Alaskans and a stable source of LNG to the Asia-Pacific region for generations. The Alaska LNG Project has been progressed through Pre-Front-End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) and has obtained all major federal and State of Alaska permits and authorizations to construct the project, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order Granting Authorization Under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act. On September 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) awarded Project No. DE-FE0032307 to AGDC with the objective to progress the project to Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) entry for the Alaska LNG Project Phase 1 Pipeline. The award Start Date was made effective July 1, 2023, with a Period of Performance through June 30, 2025. On March 27, 2025, AGDC announced the execution of definitive commercial agreements with Glenfarne Alaska LNG, LLC, an affiliate of Glenfarne Group, LLC, (together as “Glenfarne”), to lead the development of the Alaska LNG Project and enter FEED for the Phase 1 Pipeline. Project activities are now funded and directed by this private sector partner who holds a 75% interest in 8 Star Alaska, LLC (8 Star). 8 Star holds the assets of the Alaska LNG Project. As planned, AGDC continues to hold 25% minority interest in 8 Star and will play a governance role moving forward with Alaska LNG. This definitive commercial agreement milestone led to the successful completion of AGDC’s Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) for FEED entry and led to the completion of DOE Project No. DE-FE0032307. At conclusion of the SOPO, AGDC also reached the award’s maximum federal cost share of $\$$4,000,000. AGDC is, therefore, providing Final Technical Report to close out DOE Project No. DE-FE0032307.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accident Progression and Source Term Demonstration Calculations for the Advanced Burner Test Reactor (ABTR)

As advanced reactor designers approach broad deployment of new reactor technologies and the associated applications, a critical milestone on this path includes licensing or authorization of these designs in the current regulatory environment. Commercial licensing and DOE authorization both consist of numerous aspects to not only certify the designed plant will operate as intended, but also related to confirmation of the safe operation of these facilities that comply with specific standards and requirements. To that end, domestic industry and regulators require toolsets and methods which can be used to confirm that advanced reactor designs not only align with expected performance during normal operation, but also a series of transient scenarios. These codes require a satisfactory validation basis, and in the absence of such a basis, code-to-code comparisons are often utilized as a surrogate to confirm model adequacy. To support this need for fast reactor technologies, a series of analyses using SAS4A/SASSYS- 1 and the Simplified Radionuclide Transport (SRT) code have been conducted for the Advanced Burner Test Reactor (ABTR). These analyses are expected to not only provide a baseline for transient and source term analyses of ABTR, but to also provide context for the key physics that determine evolution of specific transient scenarios in a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). These codes are utilized for this work given their adoption in the SFR industry and by key SFR stakeholders.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of Time Dependent Reactor and Sensor Physics on Core Power Synthesis

Online synthesis of the power distribution is critical in the operation and control of nuclear power reactors to ensure that the core is operating within safety margins, and to provide essential knowledge associated with the burnup of the fuel. In light water reactors (LWRs), power synthesis is achieved by using some a priori knowledge of the state of the reactor core and updating based on the signals coming from in-core sensors—namely, self-powered neutron detectors (SPNDs). This report aims to study the effects of fuel burnup and sensor degradation on the ability to accurately synthesize the power distribution in a LWR. Several modeling tools were used to simulate power synthesis based on the responses of SPNDs, with emitters made out of Rh or V. A representative pressurized water reactor low-enriched uranium (LEU) core was modeled using the Polaris/Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) approach. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport 6 (MCNP6) code was used, as well, to calculate response functions between different segments of fuel to individual SPNDs; this is a crucial parameter for power synthesis. The Oak Ridge Isotope GENeration (ORIGEN) package in the Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation (SCALE) code was used to model the time-dependent isotopic transmutation in the SPND emitters. All these data were fed into a custom code that enacted the point-based iterative (PBI) method to simulate power synthesis. Developmental work was also performed on high-fidelity SPND models in the GEometry ANd Tracking 4 (Geant4) code, which enables higher-accuracy modeling of the current responses from SPNDs. In this work, five sets of time-dependent power synthesis test cases were conducted. In these test cases, systematic changes in the input conditions enabled an analysis of the effect of (1) slightly inaccurate a priori power distribution assumptions with respect to fuel burnup, (2) highly inaccurate a priori assumptions with respect to fuel burnup (such that burnup is not included in the a priori assumed distribution), and (3) differences between Rh and V SPNDs in terms of downstream consequences of the transmutation in the emitters. The authors discovered that one may permissibly have slightly inaccurate a priori assumptions of the fuel burnup (such that the level of burnup may be slightly under- or over-approximated by the accumulated burnup in approximately 9.3 full power days), but to not account for burnup at all in the a priori assumption leads to severe levels of error, approaching 25% at maximum. The authors also discovered that V SPNDs are extraordinarily robust in the low-enriched uranium fuel cycle considered in this modeling work, whereas Rh SPNDs undergo significant transmutation that can result in large errors in the synthesized power distribution.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Radionuclide Inventory Threshold for Trench 31 and 34 Located Within the 200 West Area Low-Level Burial Grounds

Trenches 31 and 34 located in the 200 West Area Low-Level Burial Ground (LLBG) are authorized for disposal of low-level and mixed low-level radioactive waste under DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management. A revised Disposal Authorization Statement was issued in October 2023 following approval of the performance assessment (PA) and supporting technical basis documents. To be consistent with approved PA calculations, the waste acceptance criteria (WAC) needs to be updated to include concentration limits for Category 1 (CAT1) and Category 3 (CAT3) waste along with the inventory limits. This environmental calculation file (ECF) provides the inventory limits for Category 1 and Category 3 waste disposal of radionuclides at Trench 31 and 34 based on the PA calculations. The concentration limits are not calculated as they are provided in the PA itself. The inventory thresholds (or limits) are calculated for only those radionuclides that are identified in the PA as the primary dose contributors. The primary dose contributors for the groundwater pathway are technetium-99, iodine-129, niobium-94, chlorine-36, molybdenum-93, and niobium-93m while those for the air pathway are tritium and carbon-14.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

On the Error Covariance Correction Step of an ESKF Attitude Update

The attitude states of an error-state Kalman filter (ESKF) behave differently than most other states in the system due to their multiplicative (rather than additive) nature. One way in which they differ is an error covariance correction step after an ESKF error reset, which is not required for, for example, position and velocity states. This covariance correction step is not intuitive, and it has only been recently derived for coordinate transform matrices. The author of this memo, however, found the provided derivation in [1] confusing due to a lack of clarity surrounding the invoked reference frames, and clarity is required as there are at least 4 different ways to parameterize small-angle attitude errors in an ESKF. Furthermore, while reproducing the work, the author of this memo found a more straightforward derivation that provides additional insight into the correction step. This memo offers a derivation of the attitude error covariance correction step of an ESKF, which pays specific attention to the coordinate reference frames.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Transactive Energy Network Template Metamodel

While transactive energy, which is defined as an allocation of electricity based on dynamically discovered values or prices, has been extensively studied, its uptake and use has been slow. This report describes a tool, the transactive network template, which should hasten the creation and uptake of transactive energy networks. Some basic principles of transactive energy are familiar from existing wholesale electricity markets. Locational prices are calculated today for zones within bulk electric transmission systems. Locational prices differ while accounting for the locational costs of electricity generation and the losses and constraints incurred when electricity is transmitted from generators and distributed to consumers. A transactive energy network might include these transmission zones. However, current research strives to apply transactive energy also in electricity distribution circuits, buildings, and even for individual generating and consuming devices. At the same time, researchers explore how to apply transactive energy in real time during increasingly shorter time intervals. Automated computational agents become necessary as transactive energy becomes applied to smaller circuit zones and at faster dynamic timescales. A transactive energy network is an example of a multi-agent system. Each zone in the network is represented by its transactive agent, which makes decisions for and acts on behalf of a business entity that is responsible for and manages one of the circuit regions. A transactive energy network is also an example of a decentralized, distributed control system. Control decisions and responsibilities are distributed among the network’s transactive agents. The transactive agents are independent; that is, there typically is no centralized authority or oversight function. Instead, transactive agents exchange transactive signals and thereby negotiate the prices and quantities of electricity that they will exchange. Initially, the circuit regions and responsibilities of transactive agents appear to be very dissimilar. Each circuit region may comprise transmission, distribution, or building-level circuits. Each has a unique position and electrical connectivity within the transactive energy network. Each possesses unique assets that either generate or consume electricity, and these (e.g., renewable energy generator, diesel generator, aggregate utility load, building load, space conditioning, refrigerator, etc.) may further differ in their price flexibility and in their strategies for responding to dynamic electricity prices. Given such diversity, an implementer’s first inclination might be to start from scratch to define all these devices and to engineer their seemingly unique interactions. Given that each implementer’s perspective may be narrow within a transactive energy network, it is unlikely that uniquely engineered systems would interact well. This is where the transactive network template is applicable. The transactive network template is a metamodel that has been developed to guide implementers as they configure their own transactive agent within a network of such agents. The object-oriented design of the transactive network template provides basic code object types that may be used and extended by implementers to represent each of the assets in their circuit region. These objects further facilitate the transactive agent’s necessary computations, which are divided among responsibilities to schedule power usage, balance electric supply and demand, and coordinate the exchange of electricity with the other transactive agents. This report addresses the conceptual transactive network template design. Implementers are directed to more formal design documents and reference implementations. A Python™-based1 reference implementation of the transactive network template has been coded, and three implementations have been configured to represent a national laboratory and two university campuses. Version 2 of the transactive node template generalizes the market class and its methods to facilitate multiple, and more diverse market coordination mechanisms than were facilitated by and demonstrated using Version 1. Version 3 includes new Appendix B, which addresses the designs of methods that would make dynamic prices track approved electricity rates. In the future, the author wishes to make the transactive network template more generally applicable to networks that require more accurate power flow. Development of the transactive network template is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the DOE Office of Electricity. In late 2015, one of the first projects to be funded by the DOE Grid Laboratory Modernization Laboratory Consortium was the Clean Energy and Transactive Campus project, led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. DOE funds were matched by an investment by the Washington Department of Commerce through its Clean Energy Fund. The transactive network template was developed to guide the implementation of transactive energy networks within this project’s scope.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impact of Time-Dependent Reactor and Sensor Physics on Core Power Synthesis (Rev.1)

Online synthesis of power distribution is critical in the operation and control of nuclear power reactors to ensure that the core is operating within safety margins and to provide essential knowledge associated with the burnup of the fuel. In light-water reactors, power synthesis is achieved by using some a priori knowledge of the state of the reactor core and updating based on the signals coming from in-core sensors—namely, self-powered neutron detectors (SPNDs). This report examines the effects of fuel burnup and sensor degradation on the ability to accurately synthesize the power distribution in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), considering the typical low-enriched uranium (LEU, 3%-5% enrichment) fuel cycle as well as the higher enrichment LEU+ (5%-8% enrichment) fuel cycle. Several modeling tools were used to simulate power synthesis based on the responses of SPNDs, with emitters made out of Rh or V. A representative PWR LEU core was modeled using the Polaris/Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) approach. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport 6 (MCNP6) code was used as well to calculate response functions between different segments of fuel to individual SPNDs; this is a crucial parameter for power synthesis. The Oak Ridge Isotope GENeration (ORIGEN) package in the Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation (SCALE) code was used to model the time-dependent isotopic transmutation in the SPND emitters. All these data were fed into a custom code that enacted the point-based iterative method to simulate power synthesis. Developmental work was also performed on high-fidelity SPND models in the GEometry ANd Tracking 4 (Geant4) code, which enables higher-accuracy modeling of the current responses from SPNDs. In this work, five sets of time-dependent power synthesis test cases were conducted. In these test cases, systematic changes in the input conditions enabled an analysis of the effect of (1) slightly inaccurate a priori power distribution assumptions with respect to fuel burnup, (2) highly inaccurate a priori power distribution assumptions with respect to fuel burnup (such that burnup is not included in the a priori assumed distribution), and (3) differences between Rh and V SPNDs in terms of downstream consequences of the transmutation in the emitters and the extended nature of the LEU+ fuel cycle in comparison with LEU. The authors discovered that one may permissibly have slightly inaccurate a priori assumptions of the fuel burnup (such that the level of burnup may be slightly underapproximated or overapproximated by the accumulated burnup in approximately 9.3 full power days), but to not account for burnup at all in the a priori assumptions leads to severe levels of error, approaching 25% at maximum (for LEU). The authors also discovered that V SPNDs are extraordinarily robust in both the LEU and LEU+ fuel cycles considered in this modeling work, whereas Rh SPNDs undergo significant transmutation that can result in large errors in the synthesized power distribution.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Fermilab 2025 Summer Internship: Repairing Pre-Amplifiers with Mu2e Electronics Installation Team

The author spent nine weeks over summer 2025 working on the tracker electronics installation team for the Mu2e experiment. One of her main responsibilities was repairing high voltage (HV) and calibration (Cal) pre-amplifiers (pre-amps). During installation, the fragile wires connecting the two sockets to the pre-amp board must be bent, often leading to breakage. During production, the sockets and wires were initially soldered to the board at UC Berkely, then the whole pre-amp was coated in parylene before transport to Fermilab. The interns were able to expedite the repairs, and thus whole installation process, by using an alternative method on-site with epoxy. Another task they were responsible for, not included in the original project specifications, was attaching copper clips to specific vias on the Cals to reduce noise. The talk will give listeners insight into the daily problem-solving required by the novel technologies in the Mu2e project. The author would like to acknowledge her fellow Monmouth College undergraduate interns, Lizzie Durfee and Gianna Maughan, advisor and PI of the DOE RENEW Grant Dr. Christopher G. Fasano, and the Mu2e team lead by co-spokesperson Dr. Bob Bernstein and tracker L2 manager Dr. Brendan Kiburg.

de Zwart, Bronte [Monmouth Coll.]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluation of AI-enabled Digital Documented Safety Analysis

The National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) is leading a transformative initiative to accelerate advanced reactor deployment by fundamentally reimagining how nuclear safety basis documentation is developed, reviewed, and maintained. Traditional Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) processes for DOE-authorized facilities rely on static, document-centric workflows that consume significant time and resources, exemplified by recent major licensing efforts requiring hundreds of thousands of staff hours and millions of pages of documentation review. These conventional approaches create barriers to the rapid, cost-effective deployment of advanced reactors that America's future energy needs demand. NRIC's DOE Authorization Digital Transformation Project addresses these challenges through an innovative framework that integrates artificial intelligence (AI), digital engineering, and systems-based data management into a cohesive digital ecosystem. This white paper presents NRIC's methodology for evaluating AI-enabled document generation capabilities within this broader digital infrastructure, using the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility as a pilot case study. The evaluation will assess an AI tool's ability to generate a Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) through progressive integration stages—from standalone document processing to full digital thread connectivity—while maintaining rigorous verification, validation, and regulatory acceptance standards. By establishing dynamic, traceable connections between design data and safety documentation, NRIC's approach has the potential to reduce both document development time and regulatory review cycles by as much as 50%, while simultaneously improving accuracy, consistency, and traceability. This initiative represents a critical step toward establishing reusable digital infrastructure that reactor developers can leverage to accelerate their path from concept to commercial operation, directly supporting NRIC's mission to demonstrate and deploy advanced nuclear energy technologies.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Towaoc Housing Solar Initiative

The Towaoc Housing Solar initiative was implemented to install net-metered solar generation systems on twenty-three Tribal buildings in Towoac, CO on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. The project was funded 80% by Department of Energy and 20% by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The project and grant are authorized by Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council Resolution 2020-116. The systems were designed to cumulatively generate 160 direct current (DC) kilowatts on average, translating to 222,585 kilowatt hours per year. The average cost for the generation was calculated at $\$$3.34/watt with a return on investment period anticipated at 22 years for a simple payback of all costs, 11 years for the Tribe’s investment at 50% cost-share. The systems should last for 30 years. The primary goals of the project for the Tribe were identified as the reduction of electricity costs for the twenty three Tribal buildings of the Housing Authority (comprising 22 rental homes and a small apartment building with 11 units) and the reduction of carbon pollution through the transition of energy sources used in the buildings.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗