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At least 91 records · Page 5

Salt Waste Processing Facility Project (SWPF) project management improvements: Working under a cost cap contract - 15523

The Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF), located at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina, is a multi-billion dollar LRW processing facility that represents the keystone for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-EM clean-up mission at SRS. In June 2013, DOE and Parsons agreed to Contract Modification 0116 that definitized the remaining work to achieve Construction Complete with a target schedule and a cost cap contract structure. The SWPF project is currently 85 percent complete with construction, and approximately 10 percent complete with commissioning. To date there have been numerous lessons learned with regard to contract and project management, procurement, construction, safety and quality assurance approaches (both good practices and mistakes). These lessons learned are considered to be of significant value in improving the state of major project execution within the DOE-EM clean-up program as well as to the wider DOE complex. An overview of the current SWPF project status is provided, along with challenges associated with operating under a cost cap environment within a cost-plus contract structure. Key lessons learned will be discussed including contract management, baseline development and acceptance under DOE O 413.3, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets requirements, cost and schedule control, change management and risk strategies. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Large-scale features of Last Interglacial climate: results from evaluating the lig127k simulations for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6)–Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP4)

The modeling of paleoclimate, using physically based tools, is increasingly seen as a strong out-of-sample test of the models that are used for the projection of future climate changes. New to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) is the Tier 1 Last Interglacial experiment for 127 000 years ago (lig127k), designed to address the climate responses to stronger orbital forcing than the midHolocene experiment, using the same state-of-the-art models as for the future and following a common experimental protocol. Here we present a first analysis of a multi-model ensemble of 17 climate models, all of which have completed the CMIP6 DECK (Diagnostic, Evaluation and Characterization of Klima) experiments. The equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) of these models varies from 1.8 to 5.6°C. The seasonal character of the insolation anomalies results in strong summer warming over the Northern Hemisphere continents in the lig127k ensemble as compared to the CMIP6 piControl and much-reduced minimum sea ice in the Arctic. The multi-model results indicate enhanced summer monsoonal precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere and reductions in the Southern Hemisphere. These responses are greater in the lig127k than the CMIP6 midHolocene simulations as expected from the larger insolation anomalies at 127 than 6 ka. New synthesis for surface temperature and precipitation, targeted for 127 ka, have been developed for comparison to the multi-model ensemble. The lig127k model ensemble and data reconstructions are in good agreement for summer temperature anomalies over Canada, Scandinavia, and the North Atlantic and for precipitation over the Northern Hemisphere continents. The model–data comparisons and mismatches point to further study of the sensitivity of the simulations to uncertainties in the boundary conditions and of the uncertainties and sparse coverage in current proxy reconstructions. The CMIP6–Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project (PMIP4) lig127k simulations, in combination with the proxy record, improve our confidence in future projections of monsoons, surface temperature, and Arctic sea ice, thus providing a key target for model evaluation and optimization.

Last Interglacial climate↗

Incorporating variability in simulations of seasonally forced phenology using integral projection models

Phenology models are becoming increasingly important tools to accurately predict how climate change will impact the life histories of organisms. We propose a class of integral projection phenology models derived from stochastic individual-based models of insect development and demography. Our derivation, which is based on the rate-summation concept, produces integral projection models that capture the effect of phenotypic rate variability on insect phenology, but which are typically more computationally frugal than equivalent individual-based phenology models. We demonstrate our approach using a temperature-dependent model of the demography of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins), an insect that kills mature pine trees. This work illustrates how a wide range of stochastic phenology models can be reformulated as integral projection models. Due to their computational efficiency, these integral projection models are suitable for deployment in large-scale simulations, such as studies of altered pest distributions under climate change.

Goodsman, Devin W.↗

On coarse projective integration for atomic deposition in amorphous systems

Direct molecular dynamics simulation of atomic deposition under realistic conditions is notoriously challenging because of the wide range of time scales that must be captured. Numerous simulation approaches have been proposed to address the problem, often requiring a compromise between model fidelity, algorithmic complexity, and computational efficiency. Coarse projective integration, an example application of the “equation-free” framework, offers an attractive balance between these constraints. Here, periodically applied, short atomistic simulations are employed to compute time derivatives of slowly evolving coarse variables that are then used to numerically integrate differential equations over relatively large time intervals. A key obstacle to the application of this technique in realistic settings is the “lifting” operation in which a valid atomistic configuration is recreated from knowledge of the coarse variables. Using Ge deposition on amorphous SiO{sub 2} substrates as an example application, we present a scheme for lifting realistic atomistic configurations comprised of collections of Ge islands on amorphous SiO{sub 2} using only a few measures of the island size distribution. The approach is shown to provide accurate initial configurations to restart molecular dynamics simulations at arbitrary points in time, enabling the application of coarse projective integration for this morphologically complex system.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

CMIP6-based Dynamically Downscaled Hydroclimate Projection over the Conterminous US

This dataset presents a suite of downscaled hydro-climate projections over the conterminous United States (CONUS) based on multiple selected Global Climate Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6). The CMIP6 GCMs are downscaled dynamically using Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4). Each ensemble member covers the 1980-2019 baseline and 2020-2059 near-future periods under the high-end (SSP585) emission scenario. This dataset is formulated to support the SECURE Water Act Section 9505 Assessment for the US Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO). For further details on this dataset, please refer to Kao et al. (2022) and Rastogi et al. (2022).

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Idaho National Laboratory Ten-Year Site Plan Project Description Document: Descriptions of the capital projects delineated in the Idaho National Laboratory 2013 - 2022 Ten-Year Site Plan as of June 2011

This document describes the currently active and proposed infrastructure projects listed in Appendix B of the Idaho National Laboratory 2013-2022 Ten Year Site Plan (DOE/ID-11449). It was produced in accordance with Contract Data Requirements List I.06. The projects delineated in this document support infrastructure needs at INL's Research and Education Campus, Materials and Fuels Complex, Advanced Test Reactor Complex and the greater site-wide area. The projects provide critical infrastructure needed to meet current and future INL operational and research needs. Execution of these projects will restore, rebuild, and revitalize INL's physical infrastructure; enhance program execution, and make a significant contribution toward reducing complex-wide deferred maintenance.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Highly Resolved Reference Projections of Building Energy Use for the Contiguous United States: Building Sector Energy Baselines, Projection Methods, and Results

This report describes one methodology of projecting energy consumption of the US residential and commercial building sectors using NREL's ResStock™ and ComStock™ as well as growth rates derived from EIA's Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). The impetus for this work is to provide an intermediate method for compiling demand-side sectoral energy projections that is suitable for grid-scale analysis, such as NREL's Standard Scenarios. ResStock and ComStock are physics-based and statistically representative building stock models of the US residential and commercial sector, respectively. Using the 2012 actual meteorological year (AMY) weather data, the sectoral energy baselines are simulated and then segmented along key dimensions (e.g., geography, dwelling/building type). The segmented results are then scaled using the corresponding annual growth rates derived from the 2021 AEO reference case to produce energy projections out to 2050. The compiled result is a demand-side grid model (dsgrid) data set suitable for use in NREL's large-scale grid models, such as the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS). This simple projection method does not endogenously represent how the building stock could evolve through time. Most notably, it does not reflect large-scale electrification, for example, the conversion of space heating, water heating, clothes drying, and cooking from primary fossil fuels to electricity, as this is not part of AEO's reference case assumptions. Nonetheless this approach is more resolved and potentially extensible compared to the current method used by Standard Scenarios's reference case, which augments a sector's total load based on a single growth rate from AEO.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

The new Wallula CO{sub 2} project may revive the old Columbia River Basalt (western USA) nuclear-waste repository project

A novel CO{sub 2} sequestration project at Wallula, Washington, USA, makes ample use of the geoscientific data collection of the old nuclear waste repository project at the Hanford Site nearby. Both projects target the Columbia River Basalt (CRB). The new publicity for the old project comes at a time when the approach to high-level nuclear waste disposal has undergone fundamental changes. The emphasis now is on a technical barrier that is chemically compatible with the host rock. In the ideal case, the waste container is in thermodynamic equilibrium with the host-rock groundwater regime. The CRB groundwater has what it takes to represent the ideal case.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

PERMITTING OF A PROJECT INVOLVING HYDROGEN: A CODE OFFICIAL’S PERSPECTIVE

Recent growth in the development of hydrogen infrastructure has led to more requests for code officials to approve hydrogen-related projects and facilities. To help expedite the review and approval process, significant efforts have been made to educate code officials on permitting hydrogen vehicle fueling stations and facilities using stationary fuel cells (e.g., backup power for telephone cell tower sites). Despite these efforts, project delays continue because of several factors, including the limited experience of code officials with these types of facilities, submittals that lack the required information (including failure to adequately address local requirements), and submission of poor quality documents. The purpose of this paper is to help project proponents overcome these potential roadblocks and obtain timely approval for a project. A case study of an actual stationary application permitting request is provided to illustrate the value of addressing these issues.

Kallman, Richard A.↗

What are the effects of Agro-Ecological Zones and land use region boundaries on land resource projection using the Global Change Assessment Model?

Understanding the potential impacts of climate change is complicated by mismatched spatial representations between gridded Earth System Models (ESMs) and Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), whose regions are typically larger and defined by geopolitical and biophysical criteria. In this study we address uncertainty stemming from the construction of land use regions in an IAM, the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), whose regions are currently based on historical climatic conditions (1961-1990). We re-define GCAM’s regions according to projected climatic conditions (2070-2099), and investigate how this changes model outcomes for land use, agriculture, and forestry. By 2100, we find potentially large differences in projected global and regional area of biomass energy crops, fodder crops, harvested forest, and intensive pasture. These land area differences correspond with changes in agricultural commodity prices and production. These results have broader implications for understanding policy scenarios and potential impacts, and for evaluating and comparing IAM and ESM simulations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Smooth local subspace projection for nonlinear noise reduction

Many nonlinear or chaotic time series exhibit an innate broad spectrum, which makes noise reduction difficult. Local projective noise reduction is one of the most effective tools. It is based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) and works for both map-like and continuously sampled time series. However, POD only looks at geometrical or topological properties of data and does not take into account the temporal characteristics of time series. Here, we present a new smooth projective noise reduction method. It uses smooth orthogonal decomposition (SOD) of bundles of reconstructed short-time trajectory strands to identify smooth local subspaces. Restricting trajectories to these subspaces imposes temporal smoothness on the filtered time series. It is shown that SOD-based noise reduction significantly outperforms the POD-based method for continuously sampled noisy time series.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

On three-dimensional reconstruction of a neutron/x-ray source from very few two-dimensional projections

The neutron imaging system at the National Ignition Facility is an important diagnostic tool for measuring the two-dimensional size and shape of the source of neutrons produced in the burning deuterium-tritium plasma during the stagnation phase of inertial confinement fusion implosions. Very few two-dimensional projections of neutron images are available to reconstruct the three-dimensional neutron source. In this paper, we present a technique that has been developed for the 3D reconstruction of neutron and x-ray sources from a minimal number of 2D projections. We present the detailed algorithms used for this characterization and the results of reconstructed sources from experimental data collected at Omega.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The Second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP 2): General Overview

In 2015 the U.S. Department of Energy initiated a four-year study, the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP 2), to improve the representation of boundary-layer physics and related processes in mesoscale models for better wind and wind power forecasts. This goal challenges numerical weather prediction models in complex terrain due to inherent assumptions underlying their boundary-layer parameterizations. The WFIP 2 effort involved the wind industry, universities, NOAA, and DOE's national laboratories in an integrated observational and modeling study. Observations spanned 18-months to assure a full annual cycle of continuously recorded observations from remote-sensing and in situ measurement systems. The study area comprised the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington and Oregon, containing more than 4 GW of installed wind capacity; nests of observational systems captured important atmospheric scales from mesoscale to NWP sub-grid scale. Model improvements targeted NOAA's High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model to facilitate transfer of improvements to NWS operational forecast models. This paper describes the general WFIP 2 scope and objectives, the particular scientific challenges of improving wind forecasts in complex terrain, early successes of the project, and an integrated approach to archiving observations and model output. It provides an introduction for a set of more detailed BAMS papers addressing WFIP 2 observational science, modeling challenges and solutions, practical transfer of boundary layer advances to industry use, and advances in coupling improved mesoscale models to microscale models that can represent interactions between wind plants and the atmosphere.

WFIP2, boundary layer, complex terrain, forecastin↗

Wind ramp events validation in NWP forecast models during the second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2) using the Ramp Tool and Metric (RT&M)

The second Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP2) is a multi-agency field campaign held in the Columbia Gorge area (October 2015 - March 2017). The main goal of the project is to understand and improve the forecast skill of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models in complex terrain, particularly beneficial for the wind energy industry. This region is well-known for its excellent wind resource. One of the biggest challenges for wind power production is the accurate forecasting of wind ramp events (large changes of generated power over short periods of time). Poor forecasting of the ramps requires large and sudden adjustments in conventional power generation, ultimately increasing the costs of power. A Ramp Tool and Metric (RT&M) was developed during the first WFIP experiment, held in the U.S. Great Plains (September 2011 - August 2012). The RT&M was designed to explicitly measure the skill of NWP models at forecasting wind ramp events. Here we apply the RT&M to 80-m (turbine hub-height) wind speeds measured by 19 sodars and 3 lidars, and to forecasts from the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), 3-km, and from the High Resolution Rapid Refresh Nest (HRRRNEST), 750-m horizontal grid spacing, models. The diurnal and seasonal distribution of ramp events are analyzed, finding a noticeable diurnal variability for spring and summer but less for fall and especially winter. Also, winter has fewer ramps compared to the other seasons. The model skill at forecasting ramp events, including the impact of the modification to the model physical parameterizations, was finally investigated.

Djalalova, Irina V.↗

Los Alamos Recapitalization Project Prioritization—Summary Using Generic Project Names

The purpose of this document is to provide a standard method of prioritizing proposals for NNSA’s NA-50 Office of Safety, Infrastructure, and Operations recapitalization projects under the auspices of the Los Alamos Weapons Infrastructure Program Office (WI-PO). The framework described here has the goal of providing a consistent method by which all proposals are ranked from a pre-determined set of criteria. The results of this study are not expected to be definitive but rather provide input for management decisions. The top-ranked projects can be pursued further to become the focus for an appropriate fiscal year NA-50 funding cycle. A recapitalization team of subject matter experts (SMEs) and managers used multi-attribute decision analysis to determine the top priority NA-50 projects for FY2022. Ratings of seven criteria against twelve projects were combined with four weighting perspectives to provide the final results.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

ESGF project plan for ramping down development activities and transition the project and data to a new team

This document summarizes the current software development activities carried by the ESGF team with planned delivery dates before the transition of the project to a new team. The work we started on the publishing, search and retrieval, and the backend for indexing and data management that can be deployed using Kubernetes are planned to be delivered within the next three months; however, this assumes that the current team members will continue to work on the project. The activities are listed in Table 1 by priority and in case we lose team members, development of lower priority tasks can be paused and passed to the new team with its current status. Team members can be re-assigned based on their availability and transition work needed. Table 2 below describe activities necessary to help project transition to the new team. Deadlines for these activities are before October 1 st of 2022 or the completion of a successful transition. Support during the transition period assumes that we will have 3 key ESGF members and the ESGF PI supported at the 50% level or less for the duration of the transition. The level of support is an estimate, and it depends on several factors that cannot be decided at this time. The total cost of the proposed work and support activities for fiscal year 2021 is $1,270K with $230K carry over to fiscal year 2022. The cost for the support work listed in Table 2 is the sum of the two rows “HW support” and “project support, maintenance, and transition efforts”, colored blue, in Table1 which adds up to $720K. This cost is included in the $1,270K cost in table 1.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Operational Probabilistic Tools for Solar Uncertainty (OPTSUN) (Final Project Report for DOE Solar Forecasting II Project)

Increasing levels of solar PV can challenge system operations and may require novel methods to operate the power system reliably and efficiently. Power system operating plans generally use deterministic forecasts, in which the variable energy resources are represented by the expected value for each interval of the decision horizon. Probabilistic forecasts are relatively new but have the potential to address the shortfalls of deterministic forecasts. However, understanding how best to use such forecasts is still a key gap in industry and was the focus of this project. The project had three workstreams. In a forecasting workstream, improvements were made to baseline probabilistic forecasts using a number of new approaches such as machine learning methods and improved input data. In a design workstream, advanced simulation tools used these forecasts to investigate newly proposed reserve determination methods. Lastly, in a demonstration workstream a scheduling management platform (SMP) was developed to leverage probabilistic forecasts in a modular and customizable manner. In order to study the benefits that could be accrued, the project team collaborated with three utility partners (Duke Energy, Southern Company and Hawaiian Electric) to deliver improved probabilistic forecasts for each region and to model each region in case studies using advanced production cost modeling tools. Different methods to determine operating reserve requirements from probabilistic forecasts were developed, simulated, and tested across each region. The benefits of using these newly proposed methods varied by utility, but, in general, using probabilistic forecasts as well as historical data to set the reserve requirements seems to improve reliability related results, with less risk of reserve or supply shortfalls. The cost implications were not always straightforward; in some cases the new methods could show a reduction in expected operating costs, but often the increase in reserves associated with better risk mitigation using probabilistic forecasts could result in an increase in operating costs in the simulations. The SMP tool was developed to process probabilistic forecasts from their initial receipt through to scheduling decisions. This open-source tool consists of several modules for scenario development, reserve requirements calculation, and visualization. The SMP tool was demonstrated to a wide range of operators and stakeholders at all three utilities and further improved based on their feedback. The tool will be available on www.epri.com/optsun. The proposed probabilistic information-based reserve determination approaches have the potential to be implemented by different regions to ensure an economic and reliable power system operation on power systems integrating increasing levels of variable renewable resources. The innovative yet practical methods developed in this project demonstrated tangible benefits from using probabilistic forecasts beyond just study-based assessments to include three unique balancing areas. The demonstrated benefits across the multiple utility environments, are expected to provide system operators in all regions the confidence required and a platform to adopt the new forecasting and operating methods.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗