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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Coupling Kinesin Spindle Protein and Aurora B Inhibition with Apoptosis Induction Enhances Oral Cancer Cell Killing

Many proteins regulating mitosis have emerged as targets for cancer therapy, including the kinesin spindle protein (KSP) and Aurora kinase B (AurB). KSP is crucial for proper spindle pole separation during mitosis, while AurB plays roles in chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. Agents targeting KSP and AurB selectively affect dividing cells and have shown significant activity in vitro. However, these drugs, despite advancing to clinical trials, often yield unsatisfactory outcomes as monotherapy, likely due to variable responses driven by cyclin B degradation and apoptosis signal accumulation networks. Accumulated data suggest that combining emerging antimitotics with various cytostatic drugs can enhance tumor-killing effects compared to monotherapy. Here, we investigated the impact of inhibiting anti-apoptotic signals with the BH3-mimetic Navitoclax in oral cancer cells treated with the selective KSP inhibitor, Ispinesib, or AurB inhibitor, Barasertib, aiming to potentiate cell death. The combination of BH3-mimetics with both KSP and AurB inhibitors synergistically induced substantial cell death, primarily through apoptosis. A mechanistic analysis underlying this synergistic activity, undertaken by live-cell imaging, is presented. Our data underscore the importance of combining BH3-mimetics with antimitotics in clinical trials to maximize their effectiveness.

Silva, João P. N. (ORCID:0000000344554286)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Induction Melter Processing Alternatives for High Level Radioactive Wastes – 26198

This work investigates the potential to vitrify nuclear fuel directly, as well as the vitrification potential associated with experimental dissolver solutions. Greater understanding of the exothermicity is needed to quantify processing risk, especially with respect to potential phase changes and associated explosion hazards present in some systems. Thermal analysis was carried out on various simulants to elucidate the exothermic reaction potential from solid metal dissolution in glass and from the drying of alternative process dissolver solutions. Results from experimental testing of simulants to demonstrate vitrification potential and compatibility indicate that alternative dissolver flowsheets suppress the heat released during processing and that common silicate- and phosphate- based glass systems are potential candidates for direct vitrification. Direct vitrification (conversion) of fuel simulants was assessed using laboratory scale glass melts to obtain qualitative information on dissolution rates and waste loadings. Initial tests were successful to dissolve and incorporate metal directly into glass, although the kinetics and limits of dissolution and incorporation into glass are not fully understood.

Amoroso, Jake [Savannah River National Laboratory ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding how defects and dopant atoms in copper surface oxides affect reactivity

Copper and its oxides are key catalytic materials, on which reactions often occur at the metal/oxide interface. Here, in this work, we directly connect the induction period observed during methanol-driven reduction of thin-film copper oxides to their atomic-scale structural order. Using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) methanol titrations combined with scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that highly ordered oxide phases – particularly the “29” structure with its low defect density – exhibit long induction periods and initially low reactivity. The induction period, defined as the number of methanol TPD cycles required to reach half of the maximum formaldehyde yield, scales with oxide order and oxygen coverage. Enhanced reactivity of well-ordered oxides emerges only after repeated methanol adsorption/desorption cycles generate oxygen vacancies and new Cu(111)/Cu x O interfacial sites. In contrast, disordered or sub-stoichiometric oxides, which contain more intrinsic defects and interfaces, are active from the first TPD cycle. We further examine how dilute Pt and Rh dopants influence oxide order and reactivity: 1% Pt increases defect density and catalytic activity, while 1% Rh promotes oxide ordering and longer induction periods. These findings demonstrate that dilute alloying provides a potential method for tuning the structure and reactivity of Cu(111)/Cu x O interfaces.

Cu(111)Methanol oxidation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wind plant wake losses: Disconnect between turbine actuation and control of plant wakes with engineering wake models

Wake losses from neighboring plants may become a major factor in wind plant design and control as additional plants are constructed in areas with high wind resource availability. Because plant wakes span a large range of physical scales, from turbine rotor diameter to tens of kilometers, it is unclear whether conventional wake models or turbine control strategies are effective at the plant scale. Wake steering and axial induction control are evaluated in the current work as means of reducing the impact of neighboring wind plants on power and levelized cost of electricity. FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS) simulations were performed with the Gauss–Curl Hybrid and TurbOPark wake models as well as two operation and maintenance models to investigate control setpoint sensitivity to wake representation and economic factors. Both wake models estimate losses across a range of atmospheric conditions, although the wake loss magnitude is dependent on the wake model. Annual energy production and levelized cost of electricity are driven by wind direction frequency, with frequently aligned plants experiencing the greatest losses. However, both wake steering and axial induction are unable to mitigate the impact of upstream plants. Wake steering is constrained by plant geometry, since wake displacement is much less than the plant wake width, while axial induction requires curtailing the majority of turbines in upstream plants. Individual turbine strategies are limited by their effective scale and model representation. New wake models that include plant-scale physics are needed to facilitate the design of effective plant wake control strategies.

Scott, Ryan (ORCID:0000000328107574)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Data for A Role for Differential Rubisco Activase Isoform Expression in C4 Bioenergy Grasses at High Temperature

Rubisco activase (Rca) facilitates the release of sugar-phosphate inhibitors at Rubisco catalytic sites during CO2 fixation. Most plant species express two Rca isoforms, the larger Rca-α and the shorter Rca-β, either by alternative splicing from a single gene or expression from separate genes. The mechanism of Rubisco activation by Rca isoforms has been intensively studied in C3 plants. However, the functional role of Rca in C4 plants where Rubisco and Rca are located in a much higher [CO2] compartment is less clear. In this study, we selected four C4 bioenergy grasses and the model C4 grass setaria ( Setaria viridis ) to investigate the role of Rca in C4 photosynthesis. All five C4 grass species contained two Rca genes, one encoding Rca-α and the other Rca-β, which were positioned closely together in the genomes. A variety of abiotic stress-related motifs were identified in the Rca-α promoter of each grass, and while the Rca-β gene was constantly highly expressed at ambient temperature, Rca-α isoforms were expressed only at high temperature but never surpassed 30% of Rca-β content. The pattern of Rca-α induction on transition to high temperature and reduction on return to ambient temperature was the same in all five C4 grasses. In sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor ), sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum ), and setaria, the induction rate of Rca-α was similar to the recovery rate of photosynthesis and Rubisco activation at high temperature. This association between Rca-α isoform expression and maintenance of Rubisco activation at high temperature suggests that Rca-α has a functional thermo-protective role in carbon fixation in C4 grasses by sustaining Rubisco activation at high temperature.

Genomics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Postirradiation Examination of WIRE-21 Experiment Irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Westinghouse Electric Company is developing wireless sensors to monitor the centerline temperature and internal pressure of commercial light-water reactor fuel rods during irradiation. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Westinghouse Electric Company developed the Wireless Instrumented RB Experiment 2021 (WIRE-21) to test wireless temperature and pressure sensor technologies in a removable beryllium position in the High Flux Isotope Reactor. The experiment was irradiated for a total of 75 days, at temperatures ranging from approximately 150°C to 400°C, resulting in a peak fast (energy > 0.1 MeV) neutron fluence of about 3 × 10 21 n/cm 2 . The temperature was intentionally cycled multiple times to compare the response of the wireless temperature sensor to collocated thermocouples. Similarly, the pressure sensor was actuated in multiple steps to compare the response of the wireless measurement to excore pressure transducers (Petrie et al., 2023). After irradiation, the experiment was disassembled in the Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory (IFEL) hot cell at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with the intent to recover sensor and dosimetry components, document the as-irradiated condition of the hardware, and investigate possible causes of the sensor behavior observed during irradiation. The postirradiation examination successfully recovered and preserved key WIRE-21 components. After the housing was removed using a milling machine, the internal experiment sections were examined. All eight fiber-optic sensors were recovered, cut, and stored. The silicon carbide thermometry, temperature sensor, pressure sensor, lower spacer, and selected pressure and temperature cable sections were also removed and stored. The metal bellows of the pressure sensor was found to be plastically deformed, indicating that it had been properly pressurized during irradiation and generally behaved as expected. X-ray diffraction analysis of a section of one of the irradiated inductor cores within the pressure sensor was performed and confirmed the presence of phase-pure alpha ferrite (i.e., no unexpected phase transformations). Inductance testing was performed on the irradiated pressure sensor cores using an unirradiated test coil, and DC resistance measurements of the transceiver coils were also performed. The measurements with irradiated inductor cores assembled inside unirradiated coils showed slightly reduced inductance compared to measurements made with unirradiated cores, but the difference was not sufficient to explain the more significant reductions in inductance that were observed in-pile. Therefore, it is suspected that degradation of the inductor coils (specifically the wire wrapping) is responsible for the reduced inductance observed in-pile.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Identifying Challenges in Safeguards for Metallic Fuel Fabrication Facilities

As new advanced reactors gain popularity, there is an increasing interest in metallic fuel fabrication for fast reactors. While metallic fuels themselves are not a new idea, as many of the first reactors employed metallic fuels, new designs, compositions, and fabrication methods are appearing throughout the nuclear community. As the interest grows and facilities are constructed, both domestic and international safeguards will need to be heavily involved to support safeguards-by-design (SBD) measures from the start. This work compiles a review of historical and modern fuel types and fabrication methods, fabrication processes, safeguards gaps, and potential safeguards solutions. Metallic nuclear fuel types have been around for many decades and were included in some of the first reactors including the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR)-I and -II, the Fermi 1 reactor, the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR), and the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR). These reactors used various compositions including pure uranium (U) metal, U-zirconium (Zr) alloys, plutonium (Pu)-aluminum (Al) alloys, U-fissium (Fs) alloys, U-Pu-Zr alloys, and U-molybdenum (Mo) alloys [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. These small alloying additions are included to improve the material properties of the pure U metal. The alpha-phase U (stable below 661C) suffers elongation in one direction causing grain boundary cracking and increasing creep rate due to irradiation growth, thermal cycling, and preferential crystal orientation. It is ideal to utilize the gamma-phase U (typically stable above 769C) by adding small amounts of alloying elements such as Zr or Mo to stabilize this phase down to room temperature [3]. Additionally, some research has been focused on U with transuranic (TRU) elements present, typically coming from the used fuel recycling process. Including these elements in fast reactor fuel can aid in the reduction of nuclear waste by burning minor long-lived actinides. However, the additions of TRU elements can cause concerns to arise when trying to fabrication or safeguard metallic fuels. A typical metallic fuel element is shown in Figure 1. Sodium is added into the cladding to create a thermal bond between the fuel slug and cladding wall. The fuel slug is then inserted and the end plug is welded on to the top of the fuel element. A gas plenum is left to create a headspace for gaseous fission products to escape rather than continue to build in the fuel itself [1, 5]. Other fuel element geometries exist as well, such as the Lightbridge twisted cruciform geometry shown in Figure 2 [6]. This design allows for better cooling performance and provides room for fuel rod swelling without impacting the fuel rod diameter. There are many different fabrication methods for metallic fuels, which is one of the many benefits of these fuel types. Many of these fabrication methods are relatively easy and cost-efficient. The most popular fabrication method is injection casting, sometimes called vacuum induction melting (VIM), shown in Figure 3 [4, 8, 9, 7, 10]. This method was largely used for EBR-II fuel fabrication. The injection casting system is contained inside of a vessel consisting of a Y2O3-coated graphite crucible surrounded by an induction coil with ZrO2-coated quartz molds suspended above the crucible. The fuel feedstock is placed inside of the graphite crucible and melted using the induction furnace. The induction furnace utilizes a dual frequency with the high frequency melting the feedstock and the low frequency causing stirring of the melted feedstock to form a homogeneous mixture. The mixture is heated to approximately 1600C in an argon environment. The vessel is evacuated and then the quartz molds are lowered into the graphite crucible containing the molten metal and the vessel is repressurized to inject the metal fuel upwards into the molds. The molds are removed and then shattered to release the fuel slugs. This fabrication method was used to fabricate 39,000 metallic fuel pins for EBR-II. While injection casting has been the most common metallic fuel fabrication method throughout the decades, many other methods have been explored including low-pressure gravity casting, microwave casting, continuous casting, centrifugal casting, coextrusion, and many others [11, 12, 8, 13, 14, 15]. Some of these methods aim to mitigate challenges that arise with americium (Am) volatilization during the casting process for TRU-containing fuel feedstocks, an issue with injection casting. Coextrusion is one of the methods explored at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and has been utilized for the initial fabrication tests of Lightbridge's unique fuels, as well as other metallic fuels with cladding coextruded. In this process, large billets are formed and machined and then inserted into a molten salt bath for approximately 30 minutes. The billets are then loaded into the extrusion press and extruded. This process can be seen in Figure 4 [15].

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

AMAROK: A Radio Frequency Development Platform for High-Power, Full-Scale Positive Ion Sources for DIII-D Neutral Beam Injectors

Next-generation neutral beam injection (NBI) systems demand RF ion sources capable of efficiently coupling >120 kW at 2–4-MHz frequencies, yet existing designs face voltage standoff and impedance-matching challenges. To address this, the advanced multicoil antenna for RF operations at kilowatts (AMAROK) was developed as a high-power RF inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source delivering up to 200 kW in the 2–4-MHz range via four phase-controlled generators for flexible power sharing. Two antenna designs—a single-strap multiturn (MT) and a multistrap single-turn (ST) design—were evaluated to optimize resonance, impedance matching, and power coupling across plasma loads. Here, a semi-analytical self-resonant frequency (SRF) model, validated experimentally, predicts resonance trends for arbitrary turn counts and tubing diameters, enabling rapid antenna optimization. Strap-to-strap mutual inductance in the ST configuration showed strong spatial dependence, guiding generator operation and total load inductance. These insights informed a custom π -topology matching network, achieving stable impedance matching over a wide range of plasma-driven loads. Collectively, these results position AMAROK as a versatile testbed for advancing high-power RF source technology in fusion NBI applications.

DIII-D↗
DOE OSTI2025

Analysis Background & Noise in Stretched Wire Alignment Technique Measurements

The Stretched-Wire Alignment Technique (SWAT) is one method of magnet alignment for linear induction accelerators. The applications of SWAT have been implemented for aligning solenoid magnets on the Scorpius linear induction accelerator which will be sited at the Nevada National Security Site and the Flash X-Ray (FXR) linear induction accelerator at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Contained Firing Facility. This article describes both systematic (repeatable) and random sources of background and noise as well as practical ways to eliminate or reduce them to acceptable levels. Systematic sources include reflections from wire ends, rapid sag due to ohmic heating of the wire, magnetic materials, and shot rate. Random sources include air currents, vibration of nearby equipment, mechanical stability of test equipment, and the instruments used to measure the wire motion. Mitigations include curve fitting and adaptive noise signal cancellation, and mechanical damping. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was used to identify and resolve a repeatable wire vibration frequency interfering with the signal resolution. Two stretched wire alignment technique set ups from Sandia National Labs and Lawrence Livermore National Lab have shown background noise sources and ways of mitigating them by either analysis methods or change of mechanical configuration. Conclusions that were drawn included the severe sensitivity of the deflection to even small external interferences of the SWAT wire such that it requires attention to detail in mechanical set up and analysis.

Linear Inductive Accelerator↗
DOE OSTI2024

Metabolomics of related C3 and C4 Flaveria species indicate differences in the operation of photorespiration under fluctuating light

C 3 photosynthesis can be complemented with a C 4 carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) to minimize photorespiratory losses. C 4 photosynthesis is often more efficient than C 3 under steady-state conditions. However, the C 4 CCM depends on inter-cellular metabolite concentration gradients, which must increase following increases in light intensity and could decrease rates of C 4 photosynthesis under fluctuating light. Additionally, incomplete flux through photorespiration could prove beneficial to C 4 assimilation during light induction of the CCM. Here, we compare metabolic profiles in the closely related C 3 Flaveria robusta and C 4 Flaveria bidentis during a light transient from low to high light to determine if these non-steady state accumulation patterns provide insight to the induction of the metabolite gradients needed to drive C 4 intermediate transport and if there is incomplete cycling of photorespiratory intermediates. In these C 3 and C 4 species, metabolite steady-state pool sizes suggest that C 4 transport acids maintain concentration gradients across the bundle sheath and mesophyll cell types under these light fluctuations. However, there was incomplete flux through photorespiration in the C 4 F. bidentis, which could reduce photorespiratory CO 2 loss via glycine decarboxylation and help maintain higher rates of assimilation during following induction periods.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Chemical timescale effects on detonation convergence

Numerical simulations of detonation-containing flows have emerged as crucial tools for designing next- generation power and propulsion devices. As these tools mature, it is important for the combustion community to properly understand and isolate grid resolution effects when simulating detonations. To this end, the objective of this work is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the numerical convergence of unsteady detonation simulations, with focus on isolating the impacts of chemical timescale modifications on convergence characteristics in the context of operator splitting. With the aid of an AMReX-based adaptive mesh refinement flow solver-which enables resolutions up to ($\mathcal{O}$ (1000) cells-per-induction length-the convergence analysis is conducted using two kinetics configurations: (1) the simplified three-step Arrhenius-based model mechanism of Short and Quirk (1997), where chemical timescales in the detonation are modified by adjusting activation energies in the initiation and branching reactions, and (2) a detailed hydrogen- air mechanism, where the chemical timescales are adjusted by varying the ambient pressure. The convergence of unsteady self-sustained detonations in one-dimensional channels is then analyzed with reference to steady-state theoretical baseline solutions using these mechanisms. The goal of the analysis is to provide a detailed comparison of the effects of grid resolution on both macroscopic (peak pressures and wave speeds) and microscopic (wave structure) quantities of interest, drawing connections between the deviations from steady-state baselines and minimum chemical timescales. In particular, chemical timescale reductions were found to have minimal impact on the convergence of macroscopic properties. Furthermore, analyses of microscopic convergence trends, particularly in the reaction front location, revealed a key insight: maintaining the induction time while eliminating prohibitive chemical timescales through mechanism simplifications and combustion modeling can significantly enhance detonation convergence properties. Ultimately, this work uncovers resolution-dependent unsteady detonation convergence regimes and highlights the important role played by not only the chemical timescales, but also the ratio between the chemical timescale and induction time on the numerical convergence of the detonation wave structure.

Adaptive mesh refinement↗