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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Risk Analysis of Various Design Architectures for High Safety-significant Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems of Nuclear Power Plants during Accident Scenarios

This report documents the plus-up activities performed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a strong technical basis to support effective, licensable, and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. An integrated risk assessment technology for the DI&C systems was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk-informed capability to quantitatively and accurately estimate the safety margin obtained from plant modernization, especially for the high safety-significant safety-related (HSSSR) DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing advanced risk-informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems to support system design decisions and diversity and redundancy applications, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of HSSSR DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. To achieve these technical goals and deal with the expensive licensing justifications from regulatory insights, the LWRS-developed framework instructs nuclear vendors and utilities on how to effectively lower the costs associated with digital compliance and speed industry advances by: (1) defining an integrated risk-informed analysis process for DI&C upgrade, including hazard analysis, reliability analysis, and consequence analysis, (2) applying systematic and risk-informed tools to address common cause failures (CCFs) and quantify corresponding failure probabilities for DI&C technologies, particularly software CCFs, (3) evaluating the impact of digital failures at the component level, system level, and plant level, and (4) providing insights and suggestions on designs to manage the risks, thus to support the development, licensing, and deployment of advanced DI&C technologies on nuclear power plant (NPPs). Adding diversity within system or components is the main means to eliminate and mitigate CCFs, but diversity also increases plant complexity and errors and may not address all sources of systematic failures. How to optimize the diversity and redundancy applications for the safety-critical DI&C systems remains a challenge. To deal with the technical issues in addressing potential software CCFs in HSSSR DI&C systems of NPPs and supporting relevant design optimization, the framework provides: ? An integrated best-estimate, risk-informed capability to address new technical digital issues quantitatively, accurately, and efficiently in plan modernization progress, such as software CCFs in HSSSR DI&C systems of NPPs ? A common and a modularized platform for DI&C designers, software developers, cybersecurity analysts, and plant engineers to efficiently predict and prevent risk in the early design stage of DI&C systems ? Technical bases and risk-informed insights to assist U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and industry to address and fulfill the risk-informed alternatives for evaluation of CCFs in HSSSR DI&C systems of NPPs ? An integrated risk-informed tool that offers a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems to support system design decisions in diversity and redundancy applications. The plus-up research and development efforts of this project in FY 2022 are focused on methodology improvement of software CCF modeling and estimation, prevention analysis, importance analysis and risk analysis of various design architectures of HSSSR DI&C systems. This work greatly enhances the capability of the LWRS-developed framework for the risk assessment and design optimization of safety-critical DI&C systems. It should be noted that all the analyses are performed for the demonstration of the LWRS-developed framework, not for the evaluation of relevant systems. Results are obtained based on very limited design information and testing data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

MicroRaman measurements for nuclear fuel reprocessing applications

Treatment and reuse of used nuclear fuel is a key component in closing the nuclear fuel cycle. Solvent extraction reprocessing methods that have been developed contain various steps tailored to the separation of specific radionuclides, which are highly dependent upon solution properties. The instrumentation used to monitor these processes must be robust, require little or no maintenance, and be able to withstand harsh environments such as high radiation fields and aggressive chemical matrices. Our group has been investigating the use of optical spectroscopy for the on-line monitoring of actinides, lanthanides, and acid strength within fuel reprocessing streams. This paper will focus on the development and application of a new MicroRaman probe for on-line real-time monitoring of the U(VI)/nitrate ion/nitric acid in solutions relevant to used nuclear fuel reprocessing. Previous research has successfully demonstrated the applicability on the macroscopic scale, using sample probes requiring larger solution volumes. In an effort to minimize waste and reduce dose to personnel, we have modified this technique to allow measurement at the microfluidic scale using a Raman microprobe. Under the current sampling environment, Raman samples typically require upwards of 10 mL and larger. Using the new sampling system, we can sample volumes at 10 μL or less, which is a scale reduction of over 1,000 fold in sample size. Finally, this paper will summarize our current work in this area including: comparisons between the macroscopic and microscopic probes for detection limits, optimized channel focusing, and application in a flow cell with varying levels of HNO 3 , and UO 2 (NO 3 ) 2 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Synthesis and Crystal Structures of Volatile Neptunium(IV) β- Diketonates

Production of certified reference materials in support of domestic nuclear forensics programs require volatile precursors for introduction into electromagnetic isotopic separation instruments. β-diketone chelates of tetravalent actinides are known for their high volatility, but previously developed synthetic approaches require starting material (NpCl 4 ) that is prohibitively difficult and hazardous to prepare. An alternative strategy was developed here that uses controlled potential electrolysis to reduce neptunium to the tetravalent state in submolar concentrations of hydrochloric acid. Four different β-diketone ligands of varying degrees of fluorination were reacted with an aqueous solution of Np 4+ . Products of this reaction were characterized via X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy, and were found to be neutral 8-coordinate complexes that adopt square antiprismatic crystal geometry. Synthesis of Np β-diketonates by this approach circumvents the necessity of using NpCl 4 in tetravalent Np coordination compound synthesis. The volatility of the complexes was assessed using thermogravimetric analysis, where the temperature of sublimation was determined to be in the range of 180° to 205° C. The extent of fluorination did not appreciably alter the sublimation temperature of the complex. Thermal decomposition of these compounds was not observed during sublimation. High volatility and thermal stability of Np β-diketonates make them an ideal candidate for gaseous introduction into isotopic separation instruments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Toward a lean analysis for waste to support the decommissioning operation - 15321

All over the world, several nuclear facilities have been shut down few years ago and are now under dismantling or will be dismantled in the future. - Dismantling project takes place according to three major phases: - Study and definition of the dismantling scenario - Dismantling site operations - Decommissioning and final state characterization. Each step is lead in agreement with safety, security and waste management. This requires analytical tools appropriate to the radiological environment and aims. In the field of security, fissile products, explosives... will be researched and quantified while occupational safety requires quantification of radiological, carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic elements such as As, Se, Cr(IV)... or even asbestos in order to follow more and more strengthened rules. For waste management, radiological and chemical quantification are necessary but must be completed by determining physical and chemical properties such as reactivity, stability or dissolution of the waste... Required level of knowledge, analytical deadline, uncertainties, limits of detection and matrix varieties depend on the decommissioning phase. Setting up a dismantling scenario requires the most possible accurate knowledge of the initial source term present in the facility, in order to establish waste management flow-sheets, define dismantling intervention modes, and prepare the associated safety demonstrations. As history is often not sufficient, in-situ investigations and off-site laboratories are necessary to assign an initial waste and radiological inventory and propose some strategy operations. When a first scenario is chosen, more detailed samplings and analyses are required to fully prepare estimates of waste volumes and categories, and define and validate the waste recovery system that would be used during the dismantling operation. As the definition of the dismantling plan takes shape, data must be more and more accurate and reliable in order to define the waste outlet. The scaling factors for the waste must be defined in order to assure the refunding of the waste. This includes complete characterizations of various matrixes, with high precision, low detection limit in a limited time of few months, as sketchy data could lead to fix inappropriate plan Once site operations begin, it is necessary to control the safety operational conditions and waste production. Measurements requirement is under the safety threshold. Matrixes are often limited to filter. The most important factor is deadline, because operations delay is costly. Finally at the end of dismantling operations, analyses must be performed to demonstrate the successful clean-up of the work site. Analytical methods with low detection limit are required. Thus, characterization appears as a graded and iterative process and is a key issue for decommissioning and dismantling operations in term of efficiency and cost. In order to face this huge analytical demand, a strategy for sampling and characterization must be developed regarding the real needs. On site measurements are usually performed with existing hand-held instruments. A basic first level of knowledge is obtained without delay, feeding the dismantling scenario. On these bases, a sampling strategy permits to select some representative specimens to be more precise, and accurate analysis is performed on off-site laboratories introducing an additional difficulty: the sampling on the site and sub-sampling in the laboratory itself. Whatever the level of sampling, aliquots are small considering the dimension of the dismantling area. This step is crucial. Sampling strategy must be optimized according to objectives (scaling factors measurement, waste level). But in the particular case of high radioactive level waste, due to security manipulation constraints, the number and mass of samples collected are limited. At the opposite for low level waste, large number of samples is collected meaning that large analytical method capacity is necessary. Optimization of the analytical plan is critical. The analytical strategy (including control of sub-sampling, analysis sequence according to analytical capability and performances, especially for pure beta emitters) developed for real case will be detailed. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

An Integrated Framework for Risk Assessment of High Safety Significant Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants: Methodology and Demonstration

This report documents the activities performed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a technical basis to support effective and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. A framework was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk-informed capability to quantitatively and accurately estimate the risk impact of plant modernization, considering the introduction of high safety-significant safety-related (HSSSR) DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing risk-informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of HSSSR DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. To achieve these technical goals, the framework provides a means to address relevant technical issues by: (1) defining a risk-informed analysis process for DI&C upgrade, that integrates hazard analysis, reliability analysis, and consequence analysis, (2) applying risk-informed tools to address common cause failures (CCFs) and quantify corresponding failure probabilities for DI&C technologies, particularly software CCFs, (3) evaluating the impact of digital failures at the component level, system level, and plant level, and (4) providing insights and suggestions on designs to manage the risks, thus to support the development and deployment of advanced DI&C technologies on nuclear power plant (NPPs).

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Extending synchrotron SAXS instrument ranges through addition of a portable, inexpensive USAXS module with vertical rotation axes

Ultra-SAXS can enhance the capabilities of existing synchrotron SAXS/WAXS beamlines. A compact ultra-SAXS module has been developed, which extends the measurable q -range with 0.0015 ≤ q (nm −1 ) ≤ 0.2, allowing structural dimensions in the range 30 ≤ D (nm) ≤ 4000 to be probed in addition to the range covered by a high-end SAXS/WAXS instrument. By shifting the module components in and out on their respective motor stages, SAXS/WAXS measurements can be easily and rapidly interleaved with USAXS measurements. The use of vertical crystal rotation axes (horizontal diffraction) greatly simplifies the construction, at minimal cost to efficiency. In this paper, the design considerations, realization and synchrotron findings are presented. Measurements of silica spheres, an alumina membrane, and a porous carbon catalyst are provided as application examples.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Multi-Sensor Unoccupied Aerial System Improves Characterization of Vegetation Composition and Canopy Properties in the Arctic Tundra

Changes in vegetation distribution, structure, and function can modify the canopy properties of terrestrial ecosystems, with potential consequences for regional and global climate feedbacks. In the Arctic, climate is warming twice as fast as compared to the global average (known as ‘Arctic amplification’), likely having stronger impacts on arctic tundra vegetation. In order to quantify these changes and assess their impacts on ecosystem structure and function, methods are needed to accurately characterize the canopy properties of tundra vegetation types. However, commonly used ground-based measurements are limited in spatial and temporal coverage, and differentiating low-lying tundra plant species is challenging with coarse-resolution satellite remote sensing. The collection and processing of multi-sensor data from unoccupied aerial systems (UASs) has the potential to fill the gap between ground-based and satellite observations. To address the critical need for such data in the Arctic, we developed a cost-effective multi-sensor UAS (the ‘Osprey’) using off-the-shelf instrumentation. The Osprey simultaneously produces high-resolution optical, thermal, and structural images, as well as collecting point-based hyperspectral measurements, over vegetation canopies. In this paper, we describe the setup and deployment of the Osprey system in the Arctic to a tundra study site located in the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. We present a case study demonstrating the processing and application of Osprey data products for characterizing the key biophysical properties of tundra vegetation canopies. In this study, plant functional types (PFTs) representative of arctic tundra ecosystems were mapped with an overall accuracy of 87.4%. The Osprey image products identified significant differences in canopy-scale greenness, canopy height, and surface temperature among PFTs, with deciduous low to tall shrubs having the lowest canopy temperatures while non-vascular lichens had the warmest. The analysis of our hyperspectral data showed that variation in the fractional cover of deciduous low to tall shrubs was effectively characterized by Osprey reflectance measurements across the range of visible to near-infrared wavelengths. Therefore, the development and deployment of the Osprey UAS, as a state-of-the-art methodology, has the potential to be widely used for characterizing tundra vegetation composition and canopy properties to improve our understanding of ecosystem dynamics in the Arctic, and to address scale issues between ground-based and airborne/satellite observations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Repeatability and sensitivity characterization of the far-field high-energy diffraction microscopy instrument at the Advanced Photon Source

In the last two decades, far-field high-energy diffraction microscopy (FF-HEDM) and similar non-destructive techniques have been actively developed at synchrotron light sources around the world. As these techniques (and associated analysis tools) are becoming more available for the general users of these light sources, it is important and timely to characterize their performance and capabilities. In this work, the FF-HEDM instrument implemented at the 1-ID-E endstation of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) is summarized. The set of measurements conducted to characterize the instrument's repeatability and sensitivity to changes in grain orientation and position are also described. When an appropriate grain matching method is used, the FF-HEDM instrument's repeatability is approximately 5 µm in translation, 0.02° in rotation, and 2 × 10 −4 in strain; the instrument sensitivity is approximately 5 µm in translation and 0.05° in rotation.

3DXRD↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of Fluorescence Lifetime Diagnostic Final Report CRADA No. TSB-1449-97

LLNL and Optiphase resarched fiber optic based fluorescence lifetime instrumentation which, through the incorporation of innovative technology supplied by Optiphase Inc., could lead to a reliable, simplified, and low-cost system mutually compatible with future interests of the company and the long-term stability requirements of ESP sensors.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2024

Air quality impacts from the development of unconventional oil and gas well pads: Air toxics and other volatile organic compounds

Unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD) has expanded rapidly across the United States in recent decades and raised concerns about associated air quality impacts. While significant effort has been made to quantify methane emissions, relatively few observations have been made of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), especially during drilling and completion of new wells. Extensive air monitoring during development of several large, multi-well pads in Broomfield, Colorado, in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, provides a novel opportunity to examine changes in local air toxics and other VOC concentrations during well drilling and completions and production. These operations offer an especially useful case to study as several management practices were implemented to reduce emissions (e.g., electrified, grid-powered drill rigs and closed loop fluid handling systems to reduce truck traffic and limit fluid handling on the pad). With simultaneous measurements of methane and 50 VOCs from October 2018 to December 2022 at as many as 19 sites near well pads, in adjacent neighborhoods, and at a more distant reference location, we identify impacts from each phase of well development and production. Use of weekly, time-integrated canisters, a Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS), continuous photoionization detectors (PID) to trigger canister collection upon detection of VOC-rich plumes, and an instrumented vehicle, provided a powerful suite of measurements to characterize both transient plumes and longer-term changes in air quality. Prior to the start of well development, VOC gradients were small across Broomfield. Once drilling commenced, concentrations of oil and gas (O&G) related VOCs, including alkanes and aromatics, increased around active well pads. Concentration increases were clearly apparent during certain operations, including drilling, coil tubing/millout operations, and production tubing installation. Emissions of C 8 –C 10 n-alkanes during drilling operations highlighted the importance of VOC emissions from synthetic drilling mud chosen to reduce odor impacts. More than 90 samples were collected of transient plumes. Using composition measurements, meteorological data, and information about well pad activities, these plumes were connected with specific UOGD operations including drilling, flowback, and production equipment maintenance. The chemical signatures of these plumes differed by operation type (e.g., C 8 –C 10 n-alkanes constituted a larger fraction of measured VOCs in drilling-related plumes). Concentrations of individual, oil and gas-related VOCs in these plumes were often several orders of magnitude higher than in background air, with maximum ethane and benzene concentrations of 79,600 and 819 ppbv, respectively. Because these plumes typically impact a monitoring site for just several minutes, they are easily missed by slower-responding instruments. Study measurements highlight future emission mitigation opportunities during UOGD operations, including better control of emissions from shakers that separate drill cuttings from drilling mud, production separator maintenance operations, and periodic emptying of sand cans during flowback operations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Adaptive Sampling for In Situ Cloud Probe (Final Report)

Clouds play a leading role in the Earth's global energy and solar radiation balance and hydrological cycle. Improving cloud models requires detailed information on the cloud microphysical properties, such as droplet size distribution and number density, liquid water content and cloud composition (droplets, ice particles), which can only be provided by aerial in situ measurements. However, for many atmospheric measurement instruments, the lack of flexibility in selecting the operational mode during operation can lead to uncertainties in sampling and measurement characteristics under continuously varying atmospheric conditions. This SBIR project is developing an advanced, compact optical imaging technology for in situ characterization of cloud hydrometeors. The development involves a deep modification of the existing Mesa Photonics’ Cloud Droplet Measurement System (CDMS) in order to implement real-time automatic adaptive sampling based on the acquired in situ data and environmental parameters. The new system, CDMS-2, implements two measurement modes: side-scatter imaging for smaller hydrometeors and direct bright-field-illumination imaging for larger hydrometeors in a significantly larger sample volume. The system measures the droplet size distribution (DSD) and number density with an added capability of discriminating between liquid water and ice hydrometeors (based on polarization-resolved side-scatter imaging). The instrument will implement automatic switching or alternating between the regular side-scatter imaging mode and sparse/large hydrometeor mode (based on the acquired data). Other adaptive sampling capabilities include variable sample volume and dynamic range (based on the measured DSD). The preferred deployment platforms are uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and tethered balloon/kite systems (TBS). The Phase I project achieved (or exceeded) the goals listed in the Work Plan. A CDMS-2 laboratory prototype implementing the polarization-resolved side-scatter imaging mode and direct bright-field-illumination imaging mode was designed and built. Additional capabilities included the variable illumination pulse energy and sample volume. The smallest detectable droplet diameter was improved to 3–4 μm (from the nominal 10 μm value specified for the original CDMS). Discrimination between water droplets and ice particles was experimentally demonstrated. The Phase I prototype was extensively tested and calibrated in the laboratory and also tested in the Pi Cloud Chamber at Michigan Technological University (MTU). The two intensive experimental campaigns at MTU provided unique opportunities of testing the CDMS-2 laboratory prototype under realistic warm and mixed-phase cloud conditions (stable for long periods of time), testing different sampling modes and intercomparing the CDMS-2 prototype to other co-located cloud characterization instruments. The Phase I project successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed technology and identified the engineering challenges of designing a field deployable prototype instrument in Phase II. The Phase I study provides a solid basis for development, characterization and field-testing of the proposed advanced cloud probe with adaptive sampling in Phase II followed by commercialization of the technology in Phase III.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2014

Implementation of Ultrasonic Sensing for High Resolution Measurement of Binary Gas Mixture Fractions

We describe an ultrasonic instrument for continuous real-time analysis of the fractional mixture of a binary gas system. The instrument is particularly well suited to measurement of leaks of a high molecular weight gas into a system that is nominally composed of a single gas. Sensitivity < 5 ×10 -5 is demonstrated to leaks of octaflouropropane (C 3 F 8 ) coolant into nitrogen during a long duration (18 month) continuous study. The sensitivity of the described measurement system is shown to depend on the difference in molecular masses of the two gases in the mixture. The impact of temperature and pressure variances on the accuracy of the measurement is analysed. Practical considerations for the implementation and deployment of long term, in situ ultrasonic leak detection systems are also described. Although development of the described systems was motivated by the requirements of an evaporative fluorocarbon cooling system, the instrument is applicable to the detection of leaks of many other gases and to processes requiring continuous knowledge of particular binary gas mixture fractions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Introduction to the Special Section on Seismoacoustics and Seismoacoustic Data Fusion

This special section of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America provides a broad overview on recent advances to the understanding of the seismoacoustic wavefield through 19 articles. Leveraging multiphenomenology datasets is instrumental for the continued success of future planetary missions, nuclear test ban treaty verification, and natural hazard monitoring. Progress in our theoretical understanding of mechanical coupling, advancements in coupled-media wave modeling, and developments of efficient multitechnology inversion procedures are key to fully exploiting geophysical datasets on Earth and beyond. We begin by highlighting papers describing experimental setups and instrumentation, followed by characterization of natural and anthropogenic sources of interest, and ending in new open-access datasets. Finally, we conclude with an overview of challenges that remain as well as some potential directions for future investigation within the growing multidisciplinary field of seismoacoustics.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Statistical Testing Approach for Quantifying Software Reliability; Application to an Example System

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) encourages the use of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) technology in all regulatory matters, to the extent supported by the state-of-the-art in PRA methods and data. Although much has been accomplished in the area of risk-informed regulation, risk assessment for digital systems has not been fully developed. The NRC established a plan for research on digital systems to identify and develop methods, analytical tools, and regulatory guidance for (1) including models of digital systems in the PRAs of nuclear power plants (NPPs), and (2) incorporating digital systems in the NRC's risk-informed licensing and oversight activities. Under NRC's sponsorship, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) explored approaches for addressing the failures of digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems in the current NPP PRA framework. Specific areas investigated included PRA modeling digital hardware, development of a philosophical basis for defining software failure, and identification of desirable attributes of quantitative software reliability methods. Based on the earlier research, statistical testing is considered a promising method for quantifying software reliability. This paper describes a statistical software testing approach for quantifying software reliability and applies it to the loop-operating control system (LOCS) of an experimental loop of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Final Report for Grant

This is the final report for this project. The major objectives were to develop full models and standard cells of CMOS silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) for neutron detection applications. Specifically, the research seeks to replace photomultiplier tubes, used in neutron detection applications, with SiPMs containing integrated readout electronics fabricated in standard CMOS processes. The detectors improve on the detection efficiency, readout speed, resolution (sensitivity), and spatial resolution of current systems. In particular, this work involved collaboration with the instrument and detector group at ORNL who build detectors based on discrete commercially available PMTs and SiPMs. The SiPM detectors developed in this work are based on Perimeter Gated Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (PGSPAD). These devices have tunable breakdown voltage which affects other performance characteristics of the detectors. The ability of the detectors to have integrated readout and tune the noise floor and dynamic range in addition to offering a method for non-uniformity compensation in a compact form significantly impacts the imaging research field and includes the nuclear sciences field, circuits and systems field in addition to varied fields such as geography and biology/medicine.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of Compact Dispersive Spectrometer Technology for Space Borne Remote Sensing Applications (CRADA Final Report)

The purpose of this CRADA was to produce HSI instruments that support multiple United States Government intelligence community (IC) and department of defense (DoD) missions. The basis for this cooperative research was LLNL inventions for compact longwave infrared spectrometers coupled with ITT’s desire to bring these inventions into use for the IC and DoD. These efforts were expected to produce new designs and capabilities for remotely detecting and identifying solid materials and gaseous effluents. The prime accomplishments of this CRADA were the creation of a sophisticated payload matured to a preliminary design level showing the compact spectrometer invented by LLNL was technically achievable, and modeled performance predictions for two design forms. A copy of LLNL’s dispersive spectrometer 3 (DS3) was also produce by LLNL for ITT, and that spectrometer is being used in ITT’s Blue Heron sensor development. The CRADA occurred over a five year period with intermittent and inconsistent funding (provided by ITT IRAD and the US Government) that inhibited sustained advances. The accomplishments of this CRADA fell short of the high-reaching goals established in 2007 due primarily to market forces.

Priest, Robert E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Microfluidic In-Situ Spectrophotometric Approaches to Tackle Actinides Analysis in Multiple Oxidation States

The study and development of present and future processes for the treatment/recycling of spent nuclear fuels require many steps, from design in the laboratory to setting up on an industrial scale. In all of these steps, analysis and instrumentation are key points. For scientific reasons (small-scale studies, control of phenomena, etc.) but also with regard to minimizing costs, risks, and waste, such developments are increasingly carried out on milli- or microfluidic devices. The logic is the same for the chemical analyses associated with their follow-up and interpretation. Due to this, over the last few years, opto–microfluidic analysis devices adapted to the monitoring of different processes (dissolution, liquid–liquid extraction, precipitation, etc.) have been increasingly designed and developed. In this work, we prove that photonic lab-on-a-chip (PhLoC) technology is fully suitable for all actinides concentration monitoring along the plutonium uranium refining extraction (plutonium, uranium, reduction, extraction, or Purex) process. Several PhLoC microfluidic platforms were specifically designed and used in different nuclear research and development (R&D) laboratories, to tackle actinides analysis in multiple oxidation states even in mixtures. The detection limits reached (tens of µmol·L −1 ) are fully compliant with on-line process monitoring, whereas a range of analyzable concentrations of three orders of magnitude can be covered with less than 150 µL of analyte. Finally, this work confirms the possibility and the potential of coupling Raman and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopies at the microfluidic scale, opening the perspective of measuring very complex mixtures.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗