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The Prompt Fission Uranium Neutron Spectrum (PFUNS) Experiment: Critical Configurations and Irradiations

The objective of the Prompt Fission Uranium Neutron Spectrum (PFUNS) experiment is to reduce the uncertainty of the Prompt Fission Neutron Spectrum (PFNS) of 235 U above 8 MeV. The experiment was performed at the DOE National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) at the Nevada National Security Site. To meet the experiment objective, activation foils were placed in a central void region of a critical configuration consisting of concentric highly enriched uranium (HEU) metal hemishells. The set of activation foils were chosen based on threshold reactions to neutron energies across the fission spectrum, but especially those in the high energy tail of the fission spectrum. PFUNS was performed on the Planet critical assembly machine at NCERC and uses the Rocky Flats (RF) HEU hemishells. PFUNS has similarities to the Measurement of Uranium Subcritical and Critical (MUSiC) experiment conducted at NCERC in 2021, which also used RF hemishells, but contains a large central cavity to allow for a sample plate to be inserted. This large void means that much more HEU is needed to achieve a critical configuration (108 kg for PFUNS versus 59 kg for MUSiC). This work describes the 2024 experiment execution of four critical configurations and two irradiations for the PFUNS project.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS

Insulation Activation and Contamination in Low-Power Experiments

Among the diverse advanced nuclear reactor concepts being developed are designs that expect to operate at much higher temperatures than conventional light-water reactors, and therefore require alternative materials for components capable of withstanding these extreme temperatures. Insulation is one such component where alternative high-temperature industrial composites are being considered. Low-power experiments can provide an opportunity for advancing our understanding of material behavior under irradiation; however, these experiments are not without occupational hazards. The focus of this paper is the potential for activation of insulating composites when exposed to neutron fluence during reactor experiments, and to discuss the subsequent contamination of the testing area. This paper will also discuss practical measures for preventing the creation and inhalation of activated particulate matter (i.e., dust), such as engineering and administrative controls and personal protective equipment. This paper evaluates the suitability of several insulation materials for use in reactor experiments based on their activation from neutron irradiation. The materials considered are Pyrogel XTE by Aspen Aerogel, Cerablanket and Kaowool by Morgan Advanced Materials, Thermo-12 Gold by Johns Manville, and Maxsil CF6-2000 by McAllister Mills. Although these materials are not yet widely used in the nuclear industry, they are common in other industries due to their thermal insulating properties. These materials produce dust while handling that can pose health and safety hazards, which could be further exacerbated by activation. The analysis presented in this paper utilizes a deterministic method developed to predict the activation source term of the provided insulation materials. The method calculates the atomic density of each element within the composites and simulates their exposure to a specified neutron flux density representative of low power experimental conditions. During the irradiation phase and throughout the extensive cooling period, neutron absorptions and nuclear decays are tracked for relevant isotopes. The residual activity within each composite is then assessed to identify the material with the lowest potential radiological hazard to workers. Dust will be created during installation and removal of insulating materials and may also be generated during the experiment. Contamination of surrounding surfaces due to dispersion is highly likely unless preventative measures are taken. The results of this analysis are used to estimate an internal dose from inhalation of activated dust, which is significantly lower than the allowable whole-body dose. However, the risk of internal exposure may increase if the dust becomes a transport vector for nuclear material. The goals of this paper are to enhance the understanding of the potential activation and contamination hazards from the use of these insulating materials in low-power nuclear experiments and to foster safer work environments through informed decision-making and strategic planning. This work ultimately contributes to a broader understanding of how new non-nuclear materials for advanced reactors impact the radiological safety of co-located workers, helping to ensure the responsible management of radioactive materials during installation and decommissioning activities.

12 - MGMT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Fast neutron leakage spectra of the EUCLID experiment

Special nuclear material in sub-critical and critical configurations measured in integral experiments are important for validation and adjustment of nuclear data. Many different evaluations of nuclear data exist, and these different evaluations can provide different values for individual cross sections that vary due to the uncertainties in differential experiments or lack of such data. For integral experiments, differences in these individual cross sections can have compensating errors, which lead to the same answer. One example of this is the Jezebel critical assembly, where k eff of the system is correctly computed by both ENDF/B-VIII.0 and JEFF-3.3, despite having substantially different underlying evaluated values for specific reactions (such as elastic and inelastic cross sections). To reduce compensating errors in nuclear data, the Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data (EUCLID) project has utilized machine learning to design a set of sub-critical and critical experiments. These experiments include slab- and cube-like configurations of 239 Pu in the form of the ZPPR plates. Six different responses were measured on a total of thirteen different configurations. One of these responses, the neutron leakage spectrum, was measured using an EJ301D detector. Finally, the results of the neutron leakage spectra show good agreement (within 1–2 σ ) with the expected spectrum from simulations and will be used in the subsequent nuclear data adjustment done by the EUCLID team.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND

Toward machine-learning-assisted PW-class high-repetition-rate experiments with solid targets

We present progress in utilizing a machine learning (ML) assisted optimization framework to study the trends in a parameter space defined by spectrally shaped, high-intensity, petawatt-class (8 J, 45 fs) laser pulses interacting with solid targets and give the first simulation-based overview of predicted trends. A neural network (NN) incorporating uncertainty quantification is trained to predict the number of hot electrons generated by the laser–target interaction as a function of pulse shaping parameters. The predictions of this NN serve as the basis function for a Bayesian optimization framework to navigate this space. For post-experimental evaluation, we compare two separate neural network (NN) models. One is based solely on data from experiments, and the other is trained only on ensemble particle-in-cell simulations. Reviewing the predicted and observed trends across the experiment-capable laser parameter search space, we find that both ML models predict a maximal increase in hot electron generation at a level of approximately 12%–18%; however, no statistically significant enhancement was observed in experiments. On direct comparison of the NN models, the average discrepancy is 8.5%, with a maximum of 30%. Since shot-to-shot fluctuations in experiments affect the observations, we evaluate the behavior of our optimization framework by performing virtual experiments that vary the number of repeated observations and the noise levels. Here, we discuss the implications of such a framework for future autonomous exploration platforms in high-repetition-rate experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Expanded Intercomparison of Nuclear Data Libraries Using Jupiter and Jupiter High-240 Experiments

There is a limited availability of plutonium experiments with sensitivity to lead in the ICSBEP (International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments) Handbook. The Jupiter and Jupiter High-240 experiments were performed at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center as a collaborative effort between Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to assess lead void coefficients in a plutonium-lead system containing weapons- and reactor-grade plutonium, respectively. Concurrent with benchmark development, an intercomparison of calculations using different nuclear data libraries has been performed to assess the usability of the experimental data for nuclear data adjustment in a “softer-that-fast” neutron energy spectrum. Eigenvalue calculations using MCNP with the ENDF/B-VIII.0 and TENDL-2021 nuclear data libraries calculate closest to the benchmark values for Jupiter. Calculations using JENDL-5 and ENDF/B-VIII.1 match best with the Jupiter High-240 values. Lead void worth calculations using the various nuclear data libraries are all within 3σ of their respective measured values. Perturbation studies between ENDF/B-VIII.0 and ENDF/B-VIII.1 demonstrate an approximate increase in calculated eigenvalues for the Jupiter series experiments by ~240 pcm for plutonium (mostly 239 Pu) and ~120 pcm for lead accompanied by a decrease contributed by ~113 pcm for copper and ~13 pcm for stainless steel. Nuclear data sensitivities and uncertainties investigated using Whisper show slightly lower sensitivity to scatter than a lead-reflected plutonium sphere but greater sensitivity to neutron capture. The sensitivities between Jupiter and Jupiter High-240 for lead are very similar for both ENDF/B-VIII.0 and ENDF/B-VIII.1 nuclear data. These benchmarks are more sensitive to neutron capture in lead than other plutonium benchmark experiments and would be useful for both lead and 240 Pu validation. In conclusion, with the high degree of compensating effects between copper, lead, and plutonium cross sections, additional isolated Pb-Pu and Cu-Pu benchmarks would be beneficial in improving these nuclear data.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS

First Demonstration of Improved Fusion Yield with Increased Compression through Reduced Adiabat in Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments at the National Ignition Facility

Recent advancements in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved a significant milestone by demonstrating target gains greater than one, yet future applications necessitate much higher target gains. One approach to achieving improved implosion performance is to pursue increased fuel compression via a lowered implosion adiabat. Experiments have been performed testing a reduced adiabat by introducing small changes to the drive laser pulse shape and the resulting shock timing for an existing implosion design at 1.9 MJ laser drive with near-ignition performance (experiment N210808). Experiments using the updated design demonstrate, for the very first time, increased compression and fusion yield in ICF implosions on the NIF by using a lower fuel adiabat, and increased compression with a reduced adiabat in high-density carbon ablators. Compared to the previously best-performing experiment with a laser energy of 1.9 MJ, these experiments exhibit increases of up to 80% and 14% in nuclear fusion yield and fuel compression, respectively, and with repeatable performance. Further, it is the only implosion design to have achieved a target gain exceeding one with a laser energy of less than 2 MJ. These findings highlight the efficacy of reduced adiabat designs in achieving higher compression and fusion yields, offering a promising pathway for future ICF applications. In conclusion, this Letter not only addresses a long-standing question in ICF but also paves the way for achieving higher target gains with optimized implosion strategies.

Hohenberger, M. [Lawrence Livermore National Labor

Design, Preparation, and Execution of the 100-AV Field Test for the CIRCLES Consortium: Methodology and Implementation of the Largest Mobile Traffic Control Experiment to Date

This article presents the comprehensive design, setup, execution, and evaluation of the MegaVanderTest (MVT) experiment conducted by the Congestion Impacts Reduction via CAV-in-the-Loop Lagrangian Energy Smoothing (CIRCLES) Consortium, which aimed to mitigate traffic congestion using partially autonomous vehicles (AVs) (see “Summary”). The experiment involved 100 vehicles on Nashville’s Interstate 24 (I-24) highway, utilizing various control algorithms to smooth stop-and-go traffic waves. The execution of the MVT experiment required a coordinated effort from multiple teams. This article details the meticulous planning process, the coordinated efforts of multiple teams, and the innovative use of a dynamic agent-based simulation framework for traffic evaluation. Here, the contributions of this work include demonstrating and providing a detailed roadmap for large-scale live traffic experiments, illustrating the lessons learned from the MVT experiment, and introducing the other articles in this issue and their complementary relationship in the MVT experiment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI

Platform Of Optimal Experiment Management

The platform of optimal experiment management, POEM, powered with automated machine learning to accelerate the discovery of optimal solutions, and automatically guide the design of experiments to be evaluated. POEM currently supports 1) random model explorations for experiment design, 2) sparse grid model explorations with Gaussian Polynomial Chaos surrogate model to accelerate experiment design ,3) time-dependent model sensitivity and uncertainty analysis to identify the importance features for experiment design, 4) model calibrations via Bayesian inference to integrate experiments to improve model performance, and 5) Bayesian optimization for optimal experimental design. In addition, POEM aims to simplify the process of experimental design for users, enabling them to analyze the data with minimal human intervention, and improving the technological output from research activities.

Wang, Congjian [Idaho National Laboratory (INL), I

LYNM PE1 Pre-Experiment A Site Characterization Report

Underground chemical explosive experiments such as LYNM PE1 generate large multiphenomenological datasets, require complex site preparation and build out, and utilize cutting edge models and analysis techniques to analyze and simulate the explosion-induced signals. This wide range of outcomes makes it a necessity to thoroughly characterize the testbed in advance of experiments in a way that complements the wide suite of data being generated. Here, we present a broad overview of the site characterization work and data collection that was conducted before Experiment A, which is the first in a series of three PE1 experiments. This work includes, but is not limited to, geologic mapping, physical sample collection, analysis of material properties, geophysical borehole logging, and in-situ measurements. This information was collected by a large, dedicated team and was used to inform site construction, finalize instrumentation placement, generate Geologic Framework Models, feed pre-experiment predictions, and facilitate post-experiment data analysis

58 GEOSCIENCES

New Muon Campus Simulations for the Muon $g\textrm{-}2$ Experiment at Fermilab

The Muon $g\textrm{-}2$ Experiment (E989) at Fermilab conducted high-precision measurements of the muon anomalous magnetic moment $a_{\mu}$ using a storage ring from 2018 to 2023, achieving a remarkable precision of $200\:\mathrm{ppb}$ over Runs 1-3, with analyses for Runs 4-6 ongoing. A comprehensive understanding of the storage ring's beam dynamics and its accurate simulations are crucial for achieving the experiment's ambitious goals. One of the requirements for this effort is a very detailed knowledge of the phase space distribution of the beam. To address this requirement, we performed high-statistics simulations of the Muon $g\textrm{-}2$ Target Station (AP0) and the Muon Campus beamlines: M2 and M3, followed by the Delivery Ring, and then M4 and M5. The resulting muon distribution at the end of the M5 beamline from our previous $3\times10^{12}$ protons-on-target (PoT) simulation serves as an essential input for the storage ring simulations. In 2024, to facilitate the analyses of Runs 4-6, we have updated our Muon Campus models and re-optimised certain parameters to reflect the operational currents and wire chamber measurements of the beam. For these optimisations, we employed the heterogeneous island method, implemented in our evolutionary optimisation tool, glyfada. This key update addresses the need to use the best possible beam for the storage ring simulations and thus supports the experiment's overall precision. The Muon $g\textrm{-}2$ Experiment at Fermilab has successfully achieved its $70\:\mathrm{ppb}$ systematic uncertainty goal and collected 21 times more data than its predecessor at BNL. The updated and improved Muon Campus models and simulations not only facilitate the experiment's efforts to potentially resolve the current tension between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions of $a_{\mu}$, but also provide a basis for future simulations for the Mu2e Experiment (E-973), which utilises shared Muon Campus beamlines.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS

Description of the Gas Sampling and Circulation System for the LYNM PE1-A Experiment

A series of multiphysics experiments, referred to as Physics Experiment 1 (PE1) is underway at the U.S. Nevada National Security Site. The PE1 series includes detonations of three underground chemical explosions. As the name implies, there are a number of experiments investigating the signals generated by the explosion. The experiment series objectives are outlined in a report from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.1 One of the experiments is a gas migration experiment. Gas tracers were imbedded in the explosives and gas sampling boreholes were installed in the formation in the test bed. Connected to the monitoring points is a circulation system that moves gas to a central measurement location. This report does not describe the gas analysis or collection systems, but rather the circulation system that provides the gas for measurement. Here, we have combined four project documents into a single report that describes the design, build, installation, testing, and operation of the gas sampling network.

42 ENGINEERING

Design of Critical Experiments Involving Graphite elements at the IPEN/MB-01 Plate-Type Core

A series of critical experiments were designed involving the use of characterized graphite elements in the new plate-type core of the IPEN/MB-01 reactor. Eleven configurations with different graphite quantities are considered, each producing distinct effects on neutron fluxes and offering opportunities to analyze varying sensitivities to k eff in the system. The analysis shows that the experiments can be performed with acceptably low k eff uncertainties considering an adequate characterization of the graphite elements to be used. The sensitivity results obtained using SCALE TSUNAMI calculations show that the experiments have a notable k eff sensitivity coefficient to graphite. In the configurations tested, the k eff sensitivity to graphite TSL is low. This experiment will be useful for criticality safety validation of applications using uranium fuel enriched to around 19.75 wt % 235 U, light water and graphite. It will also be useful to gain more insight into graphite material properties and their effect on k eff as a result of using the well-characterized graphite elements. The execution of the experiments is planned for the summer of 2025. The 11 designed configurations serve as a basis for the final design, and fewer configurations will be executed. Once executed, these critical experiments will be evaluated and submitted for publication in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project Handbook, supporting the DOE/NRC Collaboration for Criticality Safety Support for Commercial-Scale HALEU for Fuel Cycles and Transportation project goal.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS

Measured Reaction Rate Ratios of 235 U, 238 U, 237 Np, 239 Pu Samples in the PFUNS 235 U Prompt Fission Neutron Spectrum Criticality Experiment

The Prompt Fission Uranium Neutron Spectrum experiment, an experiment to reduce uncertainties in the high energy tail of the 235 U prompt fission spectrum, achieved success by performing two separate irradiations measuring approximately 40 different IRDFF-II reactions total using over 20 different foil materials at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center in February 2024. The criticality experiment utilized a set of highly enriched uranium hemispherical shells of increasing diameters with a large void in the center where the samples were located. The focus of this work is the first of two PFUNS irradiations focused on irradiating two of each fission foils, one bare and one cadmium covered, along with metal activation foils containing reaction products with short half-lives, such as indium, iron, and gold along with nickel fluence monitors. This work focuses on presenting the initial reaction rate ratio results of the fission foils from the aforementioned first irradiation to assist in nuclear data validation of those species in a nearly pure 235 U prompt fission neutron spectrum and compares to the Lady Godiva and Flattop-25 historic experiments at the Los Alamos Critical Experiments Facility. Future work will combine fission foil and metallic activation foil reaction rate ratio results from both the first and second higher power irradiation and reaction rates for a final spectral adjustment.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS

Assessment of MiniFuel Subcapsule Design Recommendations on Previous Experiments

MiniFuel describes the class of separate effects nuclear fuels irradiation experiments that have been conducted in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) since 2018. These experiments comprise a stack of six fuel-bearing subcapsules contained in a stainless steel target housing that is in contact with HFIR coolant on its exterior. All MiniFuel targets have a near-standardized architecture, and the primary design variables that change between experiments are the radial gap size between the subcapsule and housing and the target fill gas composition. Finite element heat transfer models are used to determine the optimum gas composition and gap sizes, and recent studies were performed to identify model parameters that contribute the most uncertainty to fuel specimen temperature predictions. That work, which is referenced herein, also recommended a set of design modifications to the subcapsule internal architecture and assembly process. These modifications are intended to reduce fuel temperature uncertainty in future experiments. In this report, the subcapsule design modifications were retroactively applied to a previously conducted MiniFuel experiment to determine how these changes affect the established safety and performance envelope of the experimental capability. These effects were determined in two steps. First, the modifications were applied to the subcapsule design without any other changes to determine their isolated effect on the predicted fuel specimen temperatures. This portion of the analysis showed that fuel temperatures were modestly reduced because the implemented changes improved heat transfer efficacy. Next, traditional MiniFuel design activities (i.e., sizing the gas gaps and determining the fill gas composition) were reperformed, and they confirmed that the original desired fuel temperatures could be achieved while remaining within established safety limits. Therefore, this report demonstrates improved performance resulting from the subcapsule modifications, which mitigate uncertainty while meeting the objectives of past experiments. An additional benefit of the design changes is reduced sensitivity of the fuel temperature to the evolving flux spectrum in HFIR, leading to more stable temperatures and enhanced utility of MiniFuel as a separate effects irradiation platform.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS

LYNM PE1 Pre-Experiment A Site Characterization Report

Underground chemical explosive experiments such as LYNM PE1 generate large multi-phenomenological datasets, require complex site preparation and build out, and utilize cutting edge models and analysis techniques to analyze and simulate the explosion-induced signals. This wide range of outcomes makes it a necessity to thoroughly characterize the testbed in advance of experiments in a way that complements the wide suite of data being generated. Here, we present a broad overview of the site characterization work and data collection that was conducted before Experiment A, which is the first in a series of three PE1 experiments. This work includes, but is not limited to, geologic mapping, physical sample collection, analysis of material properties, geophysical borehole logging, and in-situ measurements. This information was collected by a large, dedicated team and was used to inform site construction, finalize instrumentation placement, generate Geologic Framework Models, feed pre-experiment predictions, and facilitate post-experiment data analysis.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF

Demonstration of Optimal Benchmark Selection Website and Validation of the q c Coverage Metric Using HEU-SOL-THERM-013-003 Experiment

In the work documented in this interim report, the experiment selection toolkit web site was demonstrated and q C coverage metric methodology was validated for IEU-MET-FAST-002-001, MIX-COMP-THERM 004-004, and HEU-SOL-THERM-013-003 experiments. 𝑞 𝐶 is an information-theoretic measure based on mutual information that quantifies the ability of candidate benchmark experiments to reduce the bias and uncertainty of a target criticality safety application. The metric and an accompanying open-source Python toolkit with a web-based interface were tested against a benchmark set of 425 experiments drawn from the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project Handbook. The interface is hosted at https://edim.covdef.com. It accepts sensitivity data files produced by the TSUNAMI-IP module of the SCALE code system and supports both (i) deterministic analysis using the ENDF/B-VII.0 covariance library and (ii) stochastic analysis based on user-supplied keff samples. Demonstrations on representative applications across a range of material composition, spectrum, and form show that q C -guided benchmark selection achieves greater uncertainty reduction with fewer experiments and yields more stable posterior bias and uncertainty estimates than traditional similarity coefficient ( c k )–based selection, while also capturing valuable low-ck experiments that one-to-one metrics overlook.

Abdel-khalik, Hany S. [Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ.

Charged Lepton Flavor Violating Experiments with Muons

We report on the status of charged lepton flavor violating (CLFV) experiments with muons. We focus on the three "golden channels": $\mu^{+} \rightarrow e^{+} \gamma$, $\mu^{+} \rightarrow e^{+} e^{-} e^{+}$ and $\mu^{-} N \rightarrow e^{-} N$. The collection of upcoming experiments aim for sensitivity improvements up to $10^{4}$ with respect to previous searches. The MEG II experiment, searching for $\mu^{+} \rightarrow e^{+} \gamma$, is currently in its 4th year of physics data-taking with a published result from its first year of data. The Mu3e experiment is an upcoming experiment searching for $\mu^{+} \rightarrow e^{+} e^{-} e^{+}$ with plans of physics data-taking as soon as 2025. The Mu2e and COMET experiments are upcoming searches for $\mu^{-} N \rightarrow e^{-} N$ with the goal of physics data-taking starting in 2027 and 2026 respectively. This proceeding summarizes the signal signature, expected background, resolutions, and timelines for the mentioned searches.

Palo, Dylan [Fermilab]

Assessment of Measurement Uncertainties in the Jupiter High-240 Experiment

The Jupiter High-240 experiment performed in May of 2019 was previously discussed as a variant of the original Jupiter experiment incorporating plutonium metal alloy fuel plates with higher 240Pu content and lead plates, using both a reference configuration and a second configuration where eight lead plates were replaced with aluminum to simulate voiding. Measurements were recorded for experiment period, the “pressure” of the Comet ram upon closure for each near-critical measurement, and temperature. The experiment reactor period is the time it would take to increase the neutron population by a factor of e. For this experiment, the copper reflectors and upper third of the fuel sits upon a support structure with the lower fuel arrays raised up into the center of the reflectors using a ram (see Fig. 1). The recorded logbook temperature for each measurement corresponds to a resistance temperature detector (RTD) located at the top center of the upper fuel array. This paper summarizes the evaluated uncertainties for the Jupiter High 240 experiment as contributed via the recorded measurements and nuclear data and their assessed impact upon the computation of system reactivity and eigenvalue.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS