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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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At least 955 records · Page 53

Development and demonstration of a rolling ball viscometer for molten salts with near-minimum liquidus NaCl–KCl

The thermophysical characterization of molten chloride and fluoride salts is a key interest for the development of advanced molten salt nuclear reactors. Viscosity is one thermophysical property of interest; a high-accuracy understanding of this property is necessary for modeling the thermal energy transfer and mass flow rate for a given molten salt system. Only a few methods have consistently been used to measure the viscosity of molten chloride and fluoride salt systems, and large discrepancies have been observed in the literature between independent studies of nearly identical salt systems. As such, exploration of novel measurement methods or implementations may allow for further validation, improved measurement accuracy, and overall improved understanding about optimal approaches for measuring molten salt viscosity. Here, in this study, a novel implementation of the rolling ball viscometry method was used to measure the viscosity of a 44/56 mol % mixture of NaCl–KCl within a temperature range of 714–838 °C, with the intent to demonstrate the feasibility of this technique for molten salt viscosity measurement cross-validation. The purity of this salt was confirmed through laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Measured viscosities were approximately 1.3–1.0 cP within this temperature range, and the overall uncertainty was 10.8%, which was determined through Gaussian error propagation. The results agree reasonably well with measured viscosities of similar NaCl–KCl mixtures in the literature (within 2%–20% depending on the temperature and study), although the experimental error in some of these comparative studies may be significant.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Predictive Data Analytics Framework Using Advanced Test Reactor Acoustic Data

Although a nuclear reactor is a hostile environment for sensing and electrical communications, the reactor core is amenable to acoustic communication. An acoustic measurement infrastructure (AMI) has been installed at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) nozzle trench area to record acoustic signals that has the ability to capture different operating regime of the reactor. This AMI includes ATR in-pile structural components, coolant, acoustic receivers, primary coolant pumps (PCP) as signal sources, a data acquisition system, and signal-processing algorithms, enabling real-time. This report will discusses development of recursive Fast Fourier Transform approach to process in real-time acoustic signals, application of short time Fast Fourier Transform to the ATR brush data to understand the vibration level and to develop spectrograms for different primary coolant pump combinations. The combination of primary coolant pumps for normal and power axial locator mechanism of ATR are different and generates different signatures. These acoustic signatures were used to develop machine learning approaches to automatically classify different operating regimes. This lay the foundation for predictive analytic framework that can be leverage by ATR to optimize their operation and maintenance. The path forward involves continued engagement with ATR and expanded implementation of AMI and predictive framework at ATR and other facilities within INL and at other experimental reactors.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Status Summary of FY16 Atom Probe Tomography Studies on UCSB ATR-2 Irradiated RPV Steels

The University of California Santa Barbara-2 RPV Steel Irradiation experiment was awarded in 2010 by the Nuclear Science User Facility (formerly ATR NSUF) through a competitive peer review proposal process. The experiment involved irradiation of nearly 1300 samples distributed over 13 capsules. The major objective of this experiment was to better understand embrittlement behavior of reactor pressure steels at doses beyond which available data exists yet may be achieved if reactor operating licenses are extended beyond 60 years. The experiment was instrumented during irradiation and active temperature control was used to maintain the temperature at the design temperature. Six samples were selected from a large matrix of materials to perform atom probe tomography (APT) to look at formation of high dose phases. The nature and formation behavior of these phases is discussed.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Retractable Sensors for In-Core Service in Material Test Reactors

Material Test Reactors (MTRs) such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are used to irradiate nuclear fuels and materials to evaluate their performance after high levels of exposure to a reactor in-core environment. The most critical tests are equipped with instrumentation leads, which allow real-time data collection. However, because of the very harsh environment inside high-power MTR experiments, there are very few sensors that can survive and maintain their calibrated readings for the time periods required to obtain the high neutron doses needed for new fuels and materials qualification. As a result, sometimes sponsoring programs are forced to accept low reliability of sensors, collecting useful data for only part of the experiment duration. The work described herein is based on the observation that MTRs normally run at constant power and the corresponding conditions within reactor experiments typically evolve relatively slowly. Therefore, even one or two measurements per day would provide a complete and representative data set. With this in mind, INL has embarked on a program to develop a mechanism capable of pushing a very small-diameter sensor (typically a thermocouple or optical fiber) into the location to be measured, leave the sensor for roughly 60 seconds to allow it to reach equilibrium and transmit the signal, then pull it up and away from the high neutron flux and high-temperature region. Small-diameter capillary tubes, up to 8 m long, are used to guide the sensors to the appropriate locations. These capillary tubes serve as essentially very deep, thin-walled thermowells. The distance a thermocouple or optical fiber would need to traverse is on the order of 40 – 80 cm. By adopting this infrequent cycling strategy, the thermocouple or optical fiber would spend only a few hours in the high-neutron flux/high-temperature environment over the duration of even the longest irradiation experiment. To date, INL has developed two styles of drive mechanisms. The first is based on counter-rotating wheels which drive the sensors in a manner similar to a small MIG welder. This has the advantage of being able to accommodate a very long insertion length. The second is based on a ball screw drive and has the advantages of positive attachment and being able to move more than one sensor at a time. Both drive mechanisms have been fabricated and tested in a laboratory setting. Both systems can handle hard mineral insulated cable (such as thermocouples) or optical fibers encased in small diameter tube. The sizes tested to date are 1 – 1.6 mm diameter. Work in this area is ongoing with an eye toward demonstration in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MITR reactor, followed by deployment in an ATR irradiation experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

MARVEL Instrumentation, Control, and Software Considerations

This paper details the various I&C considerations and design decisions made throughout the MARVEL (Micro-reactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation) project, including sensor and actuator selection, safety-related functionality, digital control hardware and software, and testing methodologies. Key challenges such as managing radiation, temperature, and space constraints are discussed, along with the trade-offs between using standard equipment and custom solutions. The successful integration of off-the-shelf components, the emphasis on minimizing safety-related instrumentation, and the lessons learned from prototyping and testing are highlighted. The authors aim to provide insights that can benefit future micro-reactor designs and emphasize the importance of real-world testing in advancing reactor technology.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗

Space Nuclear Power Autonomous Control Algorithm and Control Element Test Bed

Nuclear thermal rockets are currently NASA’s preferred option for use in a manned mission to Mars in the 2040s. The communication delay between an Earth ground station and a spacecraft heading toward Mars can be up to 20 min. Therefore, controlling the nuclear rocket engine would require either a full-time reactor operator on the mission or an autonomous control system for the reactor. The latter idea of making space nuclear reactors fully autonomous has drawn more interest from stakeholders, but such an autonomous control system must be rigorously tested and validated before it is certified for human use. The cost of a full ground test for a space nuclear reactor is tremendous, so a nonnuclear mock reactor test bed was created to test and validate control elements and control algorithms for space nuclear reactors. The test bed consists of control element hardware that inputs physical measurement data into a reactor emulator to produce the reactor’s performance under steady-state, transient, and fault conditions. The control element hardware consists of six full-sized control drums equipped with servo drives and motors and is instrumented with optical encoders, resolvers, and torque sensors for drum movement characterization. In addition to the drums, a two-phase flow loop was designed and built to mimic the valves and turbomachinery associated with the propellant flow through a nuclear thermal rocket engine; components such as pressure sensors, flow meters, thermocouples, and tachometers are instrumented throughout the loop to characterize the fluid flow, valve, and turbomachinery behavior of the system. The data from the physical hardware (e.g., drum position, propellant flow rates) are input to a nuclear reactor simulator to determine the actual nuclear reactor parameters, and the data are sent back to a control algorithm to complete the control loop. The ability to conduct numerous tests of the control systems and autonomous algorithms can help validate the instrumentation and control aspects for a space nuclear reactor for every possible fault situation.

Wilson, Brandon↗

The Need for Cyber-Informed Engineering Expertise for Nuclear Research Reactors

Engineering disciplines may not currently understand or fully embrace cyber security aspects as they apply towards analysis, design, operation, and maintenance of nuclear research reactors. Research reactors include a wide range of diverse co-located facilities and designs necessary to meet specific operational research objectives. Because of the nature of research reactors (reduced thermal energy and fission product inventory), hazards and risks may not have received the same scrutiny as normally associated with power reactors. Similarly, security may not have been emphasized either. However, the lack of sound cybersecurity defenses may lead to both safety and security impacts. Risk management methodologies may not contain the foundational assumptions required to address the intelligent adversary’s capabilities in malevolent cyber attacks. Although most research reactors are old and may not have the same digital footprint as newer facilities, any digital instrument and control function must be considered as a potential attack platform that can lead to sabotage or theft of nuclear material, especially for some research reactors that store highly enriched uranium. This paper will provide a discussion about the need for cyber-informed engineering practices that include the entire engineering lifecycle. Cyber-informed engineering as referenced in this paper is the inclusion of cybersecurity aspects into the engineering process. A discussion will consider several attributes of this process evaluating the long-term goal of developing additional cyber safety basis analysis and trust principles. With a culture of free information sharing exchanges, and potentially a lack of security expertise, new risk analysis and design methodologies need to be developed to address this rapidly evolving (cyber) threatscape.

CCE↗

Corrections for the geometric distortion of the tube detectors on SANS instruments at ORNL

Small-angle neutron scattering instruments at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor were upgraded in area detectors from the large, single volume crossed-wire detectors originally installed to staggered arrays of linear position-sensitive detectors (LPSDs). The specific geometry of the LPSD array requires that approaches to data reduction traditionally employed be modified. Here, two methods for correcting the geometric distortion produced by the LPSD array are presented and compared. The first method applies a correction derived from a detector sensitivity measurement performed using the same configuration as the samples are measured. In the second method, a solid angle correction is derived that can be applied to data collected in any instrument configuration during the data reduction process in conjunction with a detector sensitivity measurement collected at a sufficiently long camera length where the geometric distortions are negligible. Furthermore, both methods produce consistent results and yield a maximum deviation of corrected data from isotropic scattering samples of less than 5% for scattering angles up to a maximum of 35°. The results are broadly applicable to any SANS instrument employing LPSD array detectors, which will be increasingly common as instruments having higher incident flux are constructed at various neutron scattering facilities around the world.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Retractable Sensors for In-Core Use in Material Test Reactors - conf paper

Material Test Reactors (MTRs) such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are used to irradiate nuclear fuels and materials to evaluate their performance after high levels of exposure to a reactor in-core environment. The most critical tests are equipped with instrumentation leads, which allow real-time data collection. However, because of the very harsh environment inside high-power MTR experiments, there are very few sensors that can survive and maintain their calibrated readings for the time periods required to obtain the high neutron doses needed for new fuels and materials qualification. As a result, sometimes sponsoring programs are forced to accept low reliability of sensors, collecting useful data for only part of the experiment duration. The work described herein is based on the observation that MTRs normally run at constant power and the corresponding conditions within reactor experiments typically evolve relatively slowly. Therefore, even one or two measurements per day would provide a complete and representative data set. With this in mind, INL has embarked on a program to develop a mechanism capable of pushing a very small-diameter sensor (typically a thermocouple or optical fiber) into the location to be measured, leave the sensor for roughly 60 seconds to allow it to reach equilibrium and transmit the signal, then pull it up and away from the high neutron flux and high-temperature region. Small-diameter capillary tubes, up to 8 m long, are used to guide the sensors to the appropriate locations. These capillary tubes serve as essentially very deep, thin-walled thermowells. The distance a thermocouple or optical fiber would need to traverse is on the order of 40 - 80 cm. By adopting this infrequent cycling strategy, the thermocouple or optical fiber would spend only a few hours in the high-neutron flux/high-temperature environment over the duration of even the longest irradiation experiment. To date, INL has developed two styles of drive mechanisms. The first is based on friction drive wheels which drive the sensors in a manner similar to a small MIG welder. This has the advantage of being able to accommodate a very long insertion length. The second is based on a ball screw drive and has the advantages of positive attachment and being able to move more than one sensor at a time. Both drive mechanisms have been fabricated and tested in a laboratory setting. Both systems can handle hard mineral insulated cable (such as thermocouples) or optical fibers encased in small diameter tube. The sizes tested to date are 1 - 1.6 mm diameter. Work in this area is ongoing with an eye toward demonstration in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's MITR reactor, followed by deployment in an ATR irradiation experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Retractable Sensors for In-Core Service in Material Test Reactors

Material Test Reactors (MTRs) such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are used to irradiate nuclear fuels and materials to evaluate their performance after high levels of exposure to a reactor in-core environment. The most critical tests are equipped with instrumentation leads, which allow real-time data collection. However, because of the very harsh environment inside high-power MTR experiments, there are very few sensors that can survive and maintain their calibrated readings for the time periods required to obtain the high neutron doses needed for new fuels and materials qualification. As a result, sometimes sponsoring programs are forced to accept low reliability of sensors, collecting useful data for only part of the experiment duration. The work described herein is based on the observation that MTRs normally run at constant power and the corresponding conditions within reactor experiments typically evolve relatively slowly. Therefore, even one or two measurements per day would provide a complete and representative data set. With this in mind, INL has embarked on a program to develop a mechanism capable of pushing a very small-diameter sensor (typically a thermocouple or optical fiber) into the location to be measured, leave the sensor for roughly 60 seconds to allow it to reach equilibrium and transmit the signal, then pull it up and away from the high neutron flux and high-temperature region. Small-diameter capillary tubes, up to 8 m long, are used to guide the sensors to the appropriate locations. These capillary tubes serve as essentially very deep, thin-walled thermowells. The distance a thermocouple or optical fiber would need to traverse is on the order of 40 - 80 cm. By adopting this infrequent cycling strategy, the thermocouple or optical fiber would spend only a few hours in the high-neutron flux/high-temperature environment over the duration of even the longest irradiation experiment. To date, INL has developed two styles of drive mechanisms. The first is based on counter-rotating wheels which drive the sensors in a manner similar to a small MIG welder. This has the advantage of being able to accommodate a very long insertion length. The second is based on a ball screw drive and has the advantages of positive attachment and being able to move more than one sensor at a time. Both drive mechanisms have been fabricated and tested in a laboratory setting. Both systems can handle hard mineral insulated cable (such as thermocouples) or optical fibers encased in small diameter tube. The sizes tested to date are 1 - 1.6 mm diameter. Work in this area is ongoing with an eye toward demonstration in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's MITR reactor, followed by deployment in an ATR irradiation experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Interpretation of energy deposition data from historical operation of the transient test facility (TREAT)

The Transient Test Reactor (TREAT) at Idaho National Laboratory will resume operations in late 2017 after a 23 year hiatus while maintained in a cold standby state. Over that time period, computational power and simulation capabilities have increased substantially and now allow for new multiphysics modeling possibilities that were not practical or feasible for most of TREAT's operational history. Hence the return of TREAT to operational service provides a unique opportunity to apply state-of-the-art software and associated methods in the modeling and simulation of general three-dimensional steady state and kinetic behavior for reactor operation, and for coupling of the core power transient model to experiment simulations. However, measurements taken in previous operations were intended to predict power deposition in experimental samples, with little consideration of three-dimensional core power distributions. Hence, interpretation of data for the purpose of validation of modern methods can be challenging. For the research discussed herein, efforts are described for the process of proper interpretation of data from the most recent calibration experiments performed in the core, the M8 calibration series (M8-CAL). These measurements were taken between 1990 and 1993 using a set of fission wires and test fuel pins to estimate the power deposition that would be produced in fast reactor test fuel pins during the M8 experiment series. Because of the decision to place TREAT into a standby state in 1994, the M8 series of transients were never performed. However, potentially valuable information relevant for validation is available in the M8-CAL measurement data, if properly interpreted. This article describes the current state of the process of recovery of useful data from M8-CAL measurements and quantification of biases and uncertainties to potentially apply to the validation of multiphysics methods.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Experimental validation of advanced regulations for superconducting magnet cooling undergoing periodic heat loads

Superconducting magnets used in tokamaks undergo periodic heat load caused by cycling plasma operations inducing AC losses, neutrons fluxes and eddy currents in magnet structures. In the cryogenic system of JT60-SA tokamak, the Auxiliary Cold Box (ACB) distributes helium from the refrigerator to the cryogenic users and in particular to the superconducting magnets. ACB comprises a saturated helium bath with immersed heat exchangers, extracting heat from independent cooling loops. The supercritical helium flow in each cooling loop is driven by a cold circulator. In order to safely operate the refrigerator during plasma pulses, the interface between the ACB and the refrigerator shall be as stable as possible, with well-balanced bath inlet and outlet mass flows during cycling operation. The solution presented in this paper relies on a combination of regulations to smooth pulsed heat loads and to keep a constant refrigeration power during all the cycle. Two smoothing strategies are presented, both regulating the outlet mass flow of the bath: the first one using the bath as a thermal buffer and the second one storing energy in the loop by varying the cold circulator speed. The bath outlet mass flow is also controlled by an immersed resistive heater which enables a constant evaporation rate in the bath when power coming from the loops is decreasing. The refrigeration power is controlled so that the compensating power remains within an acceptable margin. Experimental validation is achieved using the HELIOS facility. This facility running at CEA Grenoble since 2010 is a scaled down model of the ACB bath and Central Solenoid magnet cooling loop of the JT60-SA tokamak. Test results show performances and robustness of the regulations.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

New constraint on the Np 237 ( n , γ ) Np 238 integral cross section using the Godiva-IV critical assembly

Accurate knowledge of the 237 Np(n, γ) 238 Np cross section at fast neutron energies is important for applied nuclear science. The presently available experimental data has large disagreements in the fast neutron region. Perform a model-independent measurement of the 237 Np(n, γ) 238 Np integral cross section using a well characterized fast neutron source and compare the result with previous measurements and current nuclear data evaluations. Provide an integral measurement that can be used as a benchmark for current evaluations. Multiple samples of 237 Np were irradiated in the Godiva-IV critical assembly. Following the irradiation, the samples placed in a γ-ray counting setup and the γ-rays emitted from the decay of 238 Np were measured over a time period of approximately 7 days. Multiple γ-ray decay branches of 238 Np were observed. The observed activity of 238 Np was used to calculate the amount of 238 Np produced during the irradiation via the 237 Np(n, γ) 238 Np reaction and an integral cross section of 342(11) mb was measured for the Godiva-IV neutron spectrum. Further, the 238 Np half-life has been measured with a result of 50.31(5) hours. The 237 Np(n, γ) 238 Np integral cross section measured in this work is in agreement with overlapping 1σ error bands to ENDF/B-VIII.0. However, the measured value is 3σ away from the calculated integral cross section using JENDL-5. This measurement offers a reliable benchmark for future 237 Np(n, γ) 238 Np cross section evaluations.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Qualitative and quantitative validation of the SINBAD code on complex HPGe gamma-ray spectra

Radionuclides identification and quantification is a serious concern for many applications as safety or security of nuclear power plant or fuel cycle facility, CBRN risk identification, environmental radioprotection and waste measurements. High resolution gamma-ray spectrometry based on HPGe detectors is a performing solution for all these topics. During last decades, a great number of software has been developed to improve gamma spectra analysis. However, some difficulties remain in the analysis when photoelectric peaks are folded together with a high ratio between theirs amplitudes, when the Compton background is much larger compared to the signal of a single peak and when spectra are composed of a great number of peaks. This study deals with the comparison between conventional methods in radionuclides identification and quantification and the code called SINBAD ('Spectrometrie par Inference Non parametrique Bayesienne Deconvolutive'). For many years, SINBAD has been developed by CEA LIST for unfolding complex spectra from HPGe detectors. Contrary to conventional methods using fitting procedures, SINBAD uses a probabilistic approach with Bayesian inference to describe spectrum data. This conventional fitting method founded for example in Genie 2000 is compared with the nonparametric SINBAD approach regarding some key figures of merit as the peak centroid evaluation (identification) and peak surface evaluation (quantification). Unfriendly cases are studied for nuclides detection with closed gamma-rays energies and high photoelectric peak intensity differences. Tests are performed with spectra from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for gamma spectra analysis software benchmark and with spectra acquired at the laboratory. Results show that SINBAD and Genie 2000 performances are quite similar with sometimes best results for SINBAD with the important difference that to achieve same performances the nonparametric method is user-friendly compared to the conventional method which need an expert parameters adjustment. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Material Assessment for ITER's Collective Thomson Scattering first mirror

The International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor (ITER) Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) system is a diagnostic instrument that measures plasma density and velocity through Thomson scattering of microwave radiation. Some of the key components of the CTS are quasi-optical mirrors that are used to produce astigmatic beam patterns, which have impact on the strength and spatial resolution of the diagnostic signal. The mirrors are exposed to neutron radiation, which may alter the quality of the signal received. In this work, three different materials (molybdenum (Mo), stainless steel 316 (SS-316) and tungsten (W)) are considered for the first mirror of the CTS. The objective is to access which of the material studied are best suited for this mirror, considering different neutron radiation loads simulated scenarios defined by ITER, based on the resultant stresses and temperature distributions. For it, the neutron irradiation, and subsequent heat-load on the mirrors are simulated using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. Based on the MCNP heat-load results, transient thermal-structural Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the mirror over a 400 s discharge, with and without cooling on the rear side, are conducted using in commercial FEA software ANSYS. Results show that of the tested materials Mo and W are the most suitable material for this application. Even though, this study does not yet consider the variation of the material properties with temperature, it presents a quick initial satisfactory assessment that may be considered in subsequent and more complex analysis. (authors)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Computer-Based Procedures for Field Workers in Nuclear Power Plants: Development of a Model of Procedure Usage and Identification of Requirements

The nuclear industry is constantly trying to find ways to decrease the human error rate, especially the human errors associated with procedure use. As a step toward the goal of improving procedure use performance, researchers, together with the nuclear industry, have been looking at replacing the current paper-based procedures with computer-based procedure systems. The concept of computer-based procedures is not new by any means; however most research has focused on procedures used in the main control room. Procedures reviewed in these efforts are mainly emergency operating procedures and normal operating procedures. Based on lessons learned for these previous efforts we are now exploring a more unknown application for computer based procedures - field procedures, i.e. procedures used by nuclear equipment operators and maintenance technicians. The Idaho National Laboratory and participants from the U.S. commercial nuclear industry are collaborating in an applied research effort with the objective of developing requirements and specifications for a computer-based procedure system to be used by field workers. The goal is to identify the types of human errors that can be mitigated by using computer-based procedures and how to best design the computer-based procedures to do so. This paper describes the development of a Model of Procedure Use and the qualitative study on which the model is based. The study was conducted in collaboration with four nuclear utilities and five research institutes. During the qualitative study and the model development requirements and for computer-based procedures were identified.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗