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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 OSTI1991

Nuclear Safety [Vol. 32, No. 4, October-December 1991]

Nuclear Safety is a review journal that covers significant developments in the field of nuclear safety. Its scope includes the analysis and control of hazards associated with nuclear energy, operations involving fissionable materials, and the products of nuclear fission and their effects on the environment. Primary emphasis is on safety in reactor design, construction, and operation; however, the safety aspects of the entire fuel cycle, including fuel fabrication, spent-fuel processing, nuclear waste disposal, handling of radioisotopes, and environmental effects of these operations, are also treated. Table of Contents for this issue follows. GENERAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: 477 Report on the International Symposium on the Use of Probabilistic Safety Assessment for Operational Safety—PSA '91, S. Chakraborty and M. Khatib-Rahbar; 488 Good Relationships Are Pivotal in Nuclear Data Bases, A. S. Heger and B. V. Koen; 494 Technical Note: The Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel's Evaluation of the Ulysses Space Mission, J. A. Sholtis, Jr., D. A. Huff, L. B. Gray, N. P. Klug, and R. O. Winchester; ACCIDENT ANALYSIS: 502 The Severe Accident Analysis Program for the Savannah River Nuclear Production Reactors, M. L. Hyder; CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION: 511 A Framework for Selecting Suitable Control Technologies for Nuclear Power Plant Systems, R. A. Kisner; DESIGN FEATURES: 521 Containments for Gas-Cooled Power Reactors History and Status, P.W. Williams; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: 537 Indoor Radon: A Natural Risk, N. H. Harley and J.H. Harley; On the Importance of the Atmospheric Parameters in the Fission Products Distribution of a Severe Reactor Accident, M. C. Barla and A. R. Bayulken; Book Review: Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation BEIR V, C. R. Richmond; WASTE AND SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT: 555 Activities Related to Waste and Spent Fuel Management, M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver OPERATING EXPERIENCES: 567 Effects of Component Aging on the Westhinghouse Control Rod Drive System, K. Sullivan and W. Gunther; 577 Reactor Shutdown Experience, Compiled by J. W. Cletcher, 580 Selected Safety-Related Events, Compiled by G. A. Murphy; 582 Operating U 8 Power Reactors, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver, RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: 596 General Administrative Activities, Compiled by M. D. Muhlheim and E. G. Silver; 610 Reports, Standards, and Safety Guides, D. S. Queener; 614 Proposed Rule Changes as of June 30, 1991; ANNOUNCEMENTS: 520 Workshop on PC PRAISE: A Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Personal Computer Code for Nuclear Power Plant Piping Reliability Assessment; 536 Fifth Workshop on Nuclear Power Plant Containment Integrity; 624 New OECD "International Information System on Occupational Exposure (ISOE)"; 625 Harvard School of Public Health Announces Short Courses; 625 Eighth Power Plant Dynamics, Control and Testing Symposium; 626 Second Training Course on Off-Site Emergency Planning and Response for Nuclear Accidents; 618 The Authors; 622 Reviewers of Nuclear Safety, Vol 32.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

FY27 Annual LDRD Call for Proposals - external release

Proposals are now being accepted for the fiscal year 2027 (FY-27) Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) call, the FY-27 Annual LDRD Call for Proposals. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has renewed its research and development (R&D) portfolio to align with its strategy, and this call seeks high-quality proposals that address these renewed research priorities. The LDRD Office encourages proposals that offer the potential to achieve breakthroughs in the three science and technology (S&T) strategic initiatives: • Unleashing America’s Energy Abundance: Enabling the Quadrupling of Nuclear Power by 2050; • Securing America’s Future by Developing Domestic Supply Chains for Critical and Strategic Minerals and Materials (CSMM); and • Delivering Critical National Security Technology. Proposals that support INL’s four strategic thrust areas are also encouraged: • Enabling Future Fusion Energy Systems; • Delivering Small Nuclear Reactor Technology for Space Exploration and Defense Missions; • Accelerating Technologies for Hybrid Energy and Nuclear Applications; and • Securing America’s Energy Future Through Artificial Intelligence (AI).

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effects of Proton Irradiation on GaN Vacuum Electron Nanodiodes

Gallium nitride (GaN)-based nanoscale vacuum electron devices, which offer advantages of both traditional vacuum tube operation and modern solid-state technology, are attractive for radiation-hard applications due to the inherent radiation hardness of vacuum electron devices and the high radiation tolerance of GaN. Here, we investigate the radiation hardness of top-down fabricated n-GaN nanoscale vacuum electron diodes (NVEDs) irradiated with 2.5-MeV protons (p) at various doses. We observe a slight decrease in forward current and a slight increase in reverse leakage current as a function of cumulative protons fluence due to a dopant compensation effect. The NVEDs overall show excellent radiation hardness with no major change in electrical characteristics up to a cumulative fluence of 5E14 p/cm 2 , which is significantly higher than the existing state-of-the-art radiation-hardened devices to our knowledge. In conclusion, the results show promise for a new class of GaN-based nanoscale vacuum electron devices for use in harsh radiation environments and space applications.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

High Flux Isotope Reactor Low Enriched Uranium U-10Mo Fuel Design Parameters

Activities to convert the HFIR from HEU to LEU are ongoing as part of the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) nuclear nonproliferation mission. Design activities to study the conversion of HFIR from HEU to LEU fuel explored different fuel design features and shapes with a uranium-molybdenum (U-10Mo) monolithic alloy fuel. This high-density alloy contains 90 wt % uranium and 10 wt % molybdenum and has a uranium density of 15.318gU/cm 3 . The goal of these studies is to generate several candidate HFIR LEU fuel designs of varying fuel fabrication complexity that meet the current HEU performance metrics and safety requirements. Recent advancements in modeling and simulation tools and design methods enabled a thorough analysis of the available design space with U-10Mo fuel. A surrogate model used this analysis as training data to quickly determine the performance of a design given specific design parameters. An optimization module used this surrogate model to quickly search this multidimensional search space given specific desired performance characteristics. This approach was made possible by the large available design space with U-10Mo fuel. Shift, a Monte Carlo tool optimized for high-performance computing (HPC) architectures, was used for faster calculation and better data management for reactor physics simulations. Once most of these design studies were complete, a new suite called the Python HFIR Analysis and Measurement Engine (PHAME) was developed to connect all fuel design analysis steps, making design studies more efficient and reproducible. The post-processing capabilities of these new tools are leveraged for the information provided herein. Leveraging these tools, several candidate fuel designs were selected with varying levels of feature complexity and reactor performance. This report provides design feature details for four selected HFIR LEU U-10Mo fuel designs and their corresponding performance and safety metrics. Nominal best-estimate design parameters and irradiation conditions, including fission rate densities, power densities, heat fluxes, and cumulative fission densities, are provided. Simulations show that the high uranium density of U-10Mo fuel provides a large potential design space that enables various LEU designs to meet HEU core performance metrics and safety requirements with a power increase from 85 MW (HEU) to 95 MW or 100 MW (LEU).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mitigation for roof alterations to building 06-cp-65 at the area 6 control point, nevada national security site, nye county, nevada

Building 06-CP-65 has been determined to be a contributing element to the Area 6 Control Point Historic District (O’Neill et al. 2021; Reed 2022). It contributes to the significance of the historic district under Criterion A as one of the principal buildings that supported timing and firing operations for nuclear testing on the NNSS from 1966 to 1992. As such, the building served as a major warehouse with office space within the district. It was used by both REECo, a long-time general contractor at the NNSS, as well as EG&G, which provided technical support to the national laboratories and the DOD. The building served as an important staging area and electrical power supply point for the NNSS diagnostic trailer fleet and its unique location immediately along Mercury Highway allowed easy accessibility to the forward areas of the NNSS. The building also contributes to the historic district under Criterion C as it is one of the large, unadorned, precast concrete buildings at the Control Point. These types of buildings were the prominent elements of the compound that convey the district’s overall utilitarian, military-industrial character. Building 06-CP-65 retains all aspects of integrity to a high degree and easily conveys its significance as a warehouse that supported Control Point operations. Building 06-CP-65 is not recommended eligible for listing in the NRHP as an individual resource. While it served an important support function as part of the Control Point Historic District, an archival and literature review did not reveal information linking it to any specific test, series of tests, programs, or for any specific role on the NNSS other than as a warehouse (Criterion A). It has no direct association with any important individual (Criterion B). It also is not architecturally significant in its own right beyond reflecting the overall aesthetic of the Control Point Historic District (Criterion C), and it does not have potential to yield information important to the history of nuclear testing beyond what can be learned from historic texts, drawings, and other documents (Criterion D).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Countdown to perovskite space launch: Guidelines to performing relevant radiation-hardness experiments

Perovskite photovoltaics (PVs) are under intensive development for promise in terrestrial energy production. Soon, the community will find out how much of that promise may become reality. Perovskites also open new opportunities for lower cost space power. However, radiation tolerance of space environments requires appropriate analysis of relevant devices irradiated under representative radiation conditions. We present guidelines designed to rigorously test the radiation tolerance of perovskite PVs. We review radiation conditions in common orbits, calculate nonionizing and ionizing energy losses (NIEL and IEL) for perovskites, and prioritize proton radiation for effective nuclear interactions. Low-energy protons (0.05-0.15 MeV) create a representative uniform damage profile, whereas higher energy protons (commonly used in ground-based evaluation) require significantly higher fluence to accumulate the equivalent displacement damage dose due to lower scattering probability. Furthermore, high-energy protons may "heal" devices through increased electronic ionization. These procedural guidelines differ from those used to test conventional semiconductors.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tolerance of Perovskite Solar Cells to Targeted Proton Irradiation and Electronic Ionization Induced Healing

Mixed organic–inorganic halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are of interest for space photovoltaic applications due to their apparent tolerance to high-energy proton radiation. Here, the use of a more stable wide-bandgap FA0.8Cs0.2PbI2.4Br0.6Cl0.02 perovskite with thin encapsulation enables, for the first time, the detailed dependence of fluence and energy of energetic protons on device performance. Energies were chosen to provide the highest concentration of displacements within the active region, and therefore the highest amount of degradation. Not only are these devices tolerant when compared to conventional technologies, but an unexpected increase in open circuit voltage and power density is observed for increased electronic ionization when the proton energy is increased. This study aims to expand the description of the proton radiation tolerance to include not only nonionizing nuclear energy losses that are most detrimental to current technologies, but electronic ionization, which is shown to yield benefits in PSCs.

device performance↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the connection between perturbation theory and new semiclassical expansion in quantum mechanics

Here, it is shown that for the one-dimensional anharmonic oscillator with potential V(x) = ax 2 + bgx 3 + ... = $\frac{1}{g^2}$ $\hat{V}$ (gx), as well as for the radial oscillator V(r) = $\frac{1}{g^2}$ $\hat{V}$ (gr) and for the perturbed Coulomb problem V(r) = $\frac{a}{r}$ + βgr + ... = g $\tilde{V}$ (gr), the Perturbation Theory in powers of the coupling constant g (weak coupling regime) and the semiclassical expansion in powers of $\hbar$ 1/2 for the energies coincide. This is related to the fact that the dynamics developed in two spaces: x (r)-space and gx (gr)-space, lead to the same energy spectra. The equations which govern dynamics in these two spaces, the Riccati-Bloch equation and the Generalized Bloch equation, respectively, are presented. It is shown that the perturbation theory for the logarithmic derivative of the wavefunction in - space leads to (true) semiclassical expansion in powers of $\hbar$ 1/2 ; for the one-dimensional case this corresponds to the flucton calculus for the density matrix in the path integral formalism in Euclidean (imaginary) time proposed by one of the authors. Matching the perturbation theory in powers of g and the semiclassical expansion in powers of $\hbar$ 1/2 for the wavefunction leads to a highly accurate local approximation in the entire coordinate space, its expectation value for the Hamiltonian provides a prescription for the summation of the perturbative (trans)-series.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

SFM - Sandia Fireball Model

SAND2022-13231 O Sandia Fireball Model is used in the assessment of liquid propellant fireballs in the source term analysis for space nuclear systems launch safety. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Powers, Dana↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development of Temperature Compensation Tools for SPNDs Operating in High Temperature Environments

Two rhodium-based self-powered neutron detectors (Rh-SPNDs) were irradiated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor as a follow-on experiment to the heated irradiation previously conducted at the Neutron Radiography facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The experiment was conducted over the temperature ranges of 600-850°C to further examine the effects of temperature on the Rh-SPNDs. Four tests of varying temperature and power were performed. The tests identified two types of temperature effects consistent with historical evaluations. One effect is a prompt proportionality to temperature at steady-state reactor power due to the decrease in Rh-SPND insulation resistance. The other effect is a delayed effect generated from displacement currents generated by changing the space charge within the insulator as a function of temperature. The result of this experiment demonstrates a characterizable responses to temperature that is feasible for developing a temperature compensation tool for SPND operating in high temperatures. The characteristics identified in this experiment will be integrated within the delayed-response compensation techniques for FY23 evaluation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dark-Matter–Electron Detectors for Dark-Matter–Nucleon Interactions

In a seminal paper now a decade old, it was shown that dark-matter detectors geared at probing interactions with nucleons could also be used to probe dark-matter interactions with electrons. In this Letter, we show that new detector concepts designed to probe dark-matter-electron interactions at low masses can similarly be used to probe new parameter space for dark-matter-nucleon interactions. We demonstrate the power of this approach by using existing data from superconducting detectors to place new limits on the interactions of nuclei with MeV-scale dark matter. Further, we show that advances in detector technology that have been anticipated for electronic interactions will automatically extend sensitivity deep into uncharted territory for nuclear interactions. This doubles the effective science output of future low-threshold experiments.

Griffin, Sinéad M↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantum simulations in effective model spaces: Hamiltonian-learning variational quantum eigensolver using digital quantum computers and application to the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model

Quantum simulations offer the potential to predict the structure and dynamics of nuclear many-body systems that are beyond the capabilities of classical computing. Generally, preparing the ground state of strongly-interacting many-body systems relevant to nuclear physics is however inefficient, even using ideal quantum computers. In addition, currently available NISQ-era quantum devices possess modest numbers of qubits, limiting the size of quantum many-body systems that can be simulated. In this context, a reformulation of the quantum many-body problems using truncated model spaces and Hamiltonians is desirable to make them more amenable to near-term quantum computers. The importance of symmetries in low-energy theories, including effective field theories (EFTs), lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and effective model spaces for nuclear systems, in particular their interplay with the reduction of active Hilbert spaces, is well known. Lesser known is the fact that the non-commutivity of some symmetries and truncations of the model space can be profitably combined with variational calculations to rearrange the entanglement into localized structures and enable more efficient simulations. Here, the goal of the present study is to explore and utilize the non-commutivity of symmetries and model-space truncations of quantum many-body systems important to nuclear physics, particularly in combination with variational algorithms for quantum simulations and effective Hamiltonian learning. We introduce an iterative hybrid classical-quantum algorithm, Hamiltonian learning variational quantum eigensolver (HL-VQE), that simultaneously optimizes an effective Hamiltonian, thereby rearranging entanglement into the effective model space, and the associated ground-state wavefunction. Quantum simulations, using classical computers and IBM's superconducting-qubit quantum computers, are performed to demonstrate the HL-VQE algorithm, in the context of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) model of interacting fermions, where the Hamiltonian transformation corresponds to an orbital rotation. We use a mapping where the number of qubits scales with the $\log$ of the size of the effective model space, rather than the particle number. HL-VQE is found to provide an exponential improvement in LMG-model calculations of the ground-state energy and wavefunction, compared to naive truncations without Hamiltonian learning, throughout a significant fraction of the Hilbert space. In the context of EFT, this corresponds to counterterms scaling exponentially with the cut-off as opposed to power law. Implementations on IBM's QExperience quantum computers and simulators for 1- and 2-qubit effective model spaces are shown to provide accurate and precise results, reproducing classical predictions. For a range of parameters defining the LMG model, the HL-VQE algorithm is found to have better scaling of quantum resources requirements than previously explored algorithms. In particular, the HL-VQE scales efficiently over a large fraction of the model space, in contrast to VQE alone. This work constitutes a step in the development of entanglement-driven quantum algorithms for descriptions of nuclear many-body systems. This, in part, leverages the potential of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices. The exponential scaling of counterterms observed in this study suggests the possibility of more general applicability to other non-perturbative EFTs.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Calibration of energy density functionals with deformed nuclei

Nuclear density functional theory is the prevalent theoretical framework for accurately describing nuclear properties at the scale of the entire chart of nuclides. Given an energy functional and a many-body scheme (e.g., single- or multireference level), the predictive power of the theory depends strongly on how the parameters of the energy functionals have been calibrated with experimental data. Expanded algorithms and computing power have enabled recent optimization protocols to include data in deformed nuclei in order to optimize the coupling constants of the energy functional. The primary motivation of this work is to test the robustness of such protocols with respect to some of the technical and numerical details of the underlying calculations, especially when the calibration explores a large parameter space. To this end, we quantify the effect of these uncertainties on both the optimization and statistical emulation of composite objective functions. We also emphasize that Bayesian calibration can provide better estimates of the theoretical errors used to define objective functions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

New Constraints on Axionlike Particles with the NEON Detector at a Nuclear Reactor

We report new constraints on axionlike particles (ALPs) using data from the NEON experiment, which features 16.7 kg of NaI(Tl) target located 23.7 m from a 2.8 GW thermal power nuclear reactor. Analyzing a total exposure of 3063 kg · day , with 1596 kg · day during reactor-on and 1467 kg · day during reactor-off periods, we compared energy spectra to search for ALP-induced signals. No significant signal was observed, enabling us to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level. These limits probe previously unexplored regions of the ALP parameter space, particularly for axion masses ( m a ) near 1 MeV / c 2 . For ALP-photon coupling ( g a γ ), limits reach as low as 6.24 × 10 − 6 GeV − 1 at m a = 3.0 MeV / c 2 , while for ALP-electron coupling ( g a e ), limits reach 4.95 × 10 − 8 at m a = 1.02 MeV / c 2 . This Letter demonstrates the potential for future reactor experiments to probe unexplored ALP parameter space. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ab initio leading order effective potential for elastic proton scattering based on the symmetry-adapted no-core shell model

Calculating microscopic optical potentials for elastic scattering at intermediate energies from light nuclei in an ab initio fashion within the Watson expansion has been established within the last few years. Based on the Watson expansion of the multiple scattering series, we employ a nonlocal translationally invariant nuclear density derived within the symmetry-adapted no-core shell model (SA-NCSM) framework from a chiral next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) nucleon-nucleon interaction and the very same interaction for a consistent full-folding calculation of the effective (optical) potential for nucleon-nucleus scattering for medium-heavy nuclei. The leading order effective (optical) folding potential is computed by integrating over a translationally invariant SA-NCSM one-body scalar density, spin-projected momentum distribution, and the Wolfenstein amplitudes 𝐴, 𝐶, and 𝑀. The resulting nonlocal potentials serve as input for a momentum space Lippmann-Schwinger equation. In the SA-NCSM, the model space is systematically up-selected using Sp⁡(3,ℝ) symmetry considerations. For the light nucleus of 6 He, we establish a systematic selection scheme in the SA-NCSM for scattering observables. Then, we apply this scheme to calculations of scattering observables, such as differential cross sections, analyzing powers, and spin rotation functions for elastic proton scattering from 20 Ne and 40 Ca in the energy regime between 65 and 200 MeV, and compare to available data. Furthermore, our calculations show that the leading order effective nucleon-nucleus potential in the Watson expansion of multiple scattering theory obtained from an up-selected SA-NCSM model space describes 40 Ca elastic scattering observables reasonably well to about 60 degrees in the center-of-mass frame, which coincides roughly with the validity of the NNLO chiral interaction used to calculate both the nucleon-nucleon amplitudes and the one-body scalar and spin nuclear densities.

Ab initio calculations↗
DOE OSTI2025

A hybrid surrogate modeling framework for the Digital Twin of a Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR)

While nuclear energy is a non-greenhouse-gas emitting energy source, expensive operational costs due to the high-level of safety requirements decreases their competitiveness in the sustainable energy market. Advanced reactor concepts paired with Digital Twins aim to increase the commercialization gains of nuclear energy by reducing operational costs, increasing reactor reliability and enhancing power generation. To support Digital Twin tasks such as real-time autonomous control, proactive maintenance monitoring or optimizing power demand operations, a fast and accurate virtual representation of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is required. The computational cost of high-fidelity, physics-based models are unsuitable for real-time analysis or scalability. Here, in this work, a hybrid surrogate modeling framework is developed fora Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR) that leverages physics-inspired models for key reactor components and uses data-driven methods for rapid system state space prediction. The Xenon reactivity feedback model is integrated to inform the surrogate model about the reactor core and the homologous pump theory model is the basis for representing pump degradation. Using a detailed, two dimensional thermal hydraulics model to generate data on the FHR, we train a network of Vectorized Autoregressive Moving-Average with eXogenous input (VARMAX) models to predict the remaining state values. The result is a surrogate model that provides a detailed reactor state representation of 41 system states and a pump degradation analysis. The framework is applied to Load Follows profiles, yielding high accuracy and a speedup that is more than 4000x faster compared to the higher- fidelity thermal hydraulics model, enabling real-time operational intelligence and applications in long horizon predictions. While the surrogate model framework is demonstrated for the particular case of FHR, the hybrid physical/data-driven modeling approach including the network of surrogates and the underlying modularity has the potential to be applied to other physical asset systems.

Digital Twins↗
DOE OSTI2023

Moon, Mars and Minds: Evaluating Parkinson’s disease mortality among U.S. radiation workers and veterans in the million person study of low-dose effects

Background: Radiation is one of the most important stressors related to missions in space beyond Earth’s orbit. Epidemiologic studies of exposed workers have reported elevated rates of Parkinson’s disease. The importance of cognitive dysfunction related to low-dose rate radiation in humans is not defined. A meta-analysis was conducted of six cohorts in the Million Person Study (MPS) of low-dose health effects to learn whether there is consistent evidence that Parkinson’s disease is associated with radiation dose to brain. Materials and methods: The MPS evaluates all causes of death among U.S. radiation workers and veterans, including Parkinson’s disease. Systematic and consistent methods are applied to study all categories of workers including medical radiation workers, industrial radiographers, nuclear power plant workers, atomic veterans, and Manhattan Projects workers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and at Rocky Flats. Consistent methods for all cohorts are used to estimate organ-specific doses and to obtain vital status and cause of death. Results: The meta-analysis include 6 cohorts within the MPS, consisting of 517,608 workers and 17,219,001 person-years of observation. The mean dose to brain ranged from 6.9 to 47.6 mGy and the maximum dose from 0.76 to 2.7 Gy. Five of the 6 cohorts revealed positive associations with Parkinson’s disease. The overall summary estimate from the meta-analysis was statistically significant based on 1573 deaths due to Parkinson’s disease. The summary excess relative risk at 100 mGy was 0.17 (95% CI: 0.05; 0.29). Conclusions: Parkinson’s disease was positively associated with radiation in the MPS cohorts indicating the need for careful evaluation as to causality in other studies, delineation of possible mechanisms, and assessing possible implications for space travel as well as radiation protection guidance for terrestrial workers.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

AMTS update for STTR

Advanced nuclear reactor systems currently in development include designs that utilize higher energy neutron spectrums, higher temperatures, and corrosive environments that are quite different from the current fleet of nuclear power plants in use today. As a result, new structural materials must be developed and qualified for use to support these advanced systems. For example, research is currently being conducted on a new class of materials known as multi-principle-element-alloys. These alloys show some promise to be able to meet the structural needs of these challenging reactor systems. However, due to the vast available compositional space, and the limited amount of research conducted thus far, Idaho National Laboratory (INL)sought a way to advanced mechanical testing capability for highly irradiated structural materials to increase both throughput and higher fidelity data analysis through incorporation of digital image correlation. The Automated Mechanical Testing System accomplishes these tasks by automating the testing and incorporating digital image correlation to provide higher fidelity data. INL has now received this system and is currently performing functional testing and training. INL is also performing some modifications to the system to allow for installation into a remote shielded enclosure where testing of irradiated structural materials can be performed. After testing, training, and modifications of the system are complete, INL will install the system into a shielded enclosure and begin using the system to test irradiated structural materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗