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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Preserving the Mound Laboratory Legacy-The Mound Cold War Discovery Center - 19550

The Mound Cold War Discovery Center (MCWDC) opened at the former DOE Mound Laboratory in Miamisburg, Ohio, on April 23, 2018, approximately three years after the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management, Dayton History, the Mound Science and EnergyMuseum Association (MSEMA), and the Mound Development Corporation signed the Mound Educational Center Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). This MOA designated each party's responsibilities for the facility and laid the groundwork for DOE to enter into a Cooperative Agreement with Dayton History to design, build, and perform initial operations of the educational center. Dayton History is a nonprofit organization that operates several historical facilities in Montgomery County, Ohio. The Mound Development Corporation is the nonprofit organization that operates the Mound Business Park, privately owned property previously associated with the former DOE Mound Laboratory. The US Atomic Energy Commission began operations at the Mound Laboratory in 1948 as an integrated research, development, and production facility that supported the nation's weapons and energy programs. In October 2015, DOE entered into a five-year Cooperative Agreement with Dayton History to preserve, protect, and make accessible legacy records and information about the history of the Mound site through the development of an educational center. Years One and Two were for design and construction, respectively. Years Three through Five were for operation of the new center. The new center, located in a building owned by the Mound Development Corporation, would carry on the mission started by the MSEMA, a nonprofit organization started by former Mound site employees more than 15 years ago after DOE mission work ended at the site. As part of the cooperative agreement, Dayton History is responsible for creating interactive displays and exhibits to draw, entertain, and educate the public on the Mound site's significant contributions to the protection of the nation; developing educational programs; and initiating marketing strategies for the long-term sustainability of the educational center. In 2016, parties to the MOA officially named the facility the Mound Cold War Discovery Center. The MCWDC was designed to preserve the history of the Mound site through effective, entertaining, and efficient communication of the history of the Mound Laboratory; the site's legacy to the US weapons production complex and space exploration program; and promote understanding of what has happened at the site since DOE mission work ended, including environmental cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the regulator-approved end state of industrial/commercial land use with associated institutional controls. The cooperative agreement requires Dayton History to develop and implement marketing strategies to support the long-term sustainability of the MCWDC at the Mound site. Dayton History will submit a report after the first year of operation and every year thereafter during the period of the cooperative agreement. These reports will describe and status efforts to obtain sustainability and offer for consideration any operational changes, corrections, or suggestions that may improve the potential for sustainability. Prior to the end of the cooperative agreement, a sustainability assessment decision will be made by DOE to determine whether the MCWDC has enough community interest to financially sustain itself at the Mound site. The status of the MCWDC Legacy Fund established by Dayton History will be considered in DoE's assessment determination. If DOE determines that the MCWDC is not sustainable at the Mound site, the exhibits will be relocated to Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, with the five key exhibits that were predetermined in the MOA to be placed on permanent display, thereby maintaining the legacy of the Mound site. Dayton History is required to submit a final closeout report at the end of Year Five of the cooperative agreement. The report will describe all activities completed under the agreement, provide an assessment of how project goals were achieved or not achieved, and describe how the legacy of the site will be preserved. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

The ephemeral and the enduring: Trajectories of disappearance for the scientific objects of American Cold War nuclear weapons testing

Here, the historical material culture produced by American Cold War nuclear weapons testing includes objects of scientific inquiry that can be generally categorized as being either ephemeral or enduring. Objects deemed to be ephemeral were of a less substantial nature, being impermanent and expendable in a nuclear test, while enduring objects were by nature more durable and long-lasting. Although all of these objects were ultimately subject to disappearance, the processes by which they were transformed, degraded, or destroyed prior to their disappearing differ. Drawing principally upon archaeological theory, this paper proposes a functional dichotomy for categorizing and studying the historical trajectories of nuclear weapons testing technoscience artifacts. In examining the transformation patterns of steel towers and concrete blockhouses in particular, it explores an associated loss of scientific method that accompanies a science object's disappearance.

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

Cultural Shifts in High Energy Physics Collaboration from the Cold War to the Present: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective

Here, this article employs empirical history and the philosophy of science to study cultural convergences and divergences in international collaborations in high energy physics. We examine two cases: (1) E-36, an experiment on small angle proton-proton scattering conducted during the Cold War at the National Accelerator Laboratory (NAL) in the USA by Soviet and US scientists and (2) an ongoing collaborative experiment, NICA, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna), which is a project devoted to heavy-ion physics. The JINR, particularly its Laboratory of High Energy Physics (formerly the “Laboratory of High Energies”) is the main mediating actor between these two cases (i.e., E-36 and NICA), as the majority of Soviet participants in E-36 were representatives of the Institute. Using empirical data collected through archival searches, field observations conducted at JINR in 2018–2019, and in-depth interviews, we tell a story of cultural differences in high energy physics by applying the concepts of ‘trading zones’ (P. Galison) and the translation of interests in actor-networks (B. Latour, M. Callon and others). We analyze three types of cultural diversity (specialization, nationality, and generational) in light of the implications of temporal context and the dichotomy between East and West, showing the roles cultural diversity plays in scientific collaboration (which is an integral part of as well as obstacle to scientific research that can nevertheless provide learning opportunities). Our study aims to demonstrate how disunity and diversity may function in scientific research and how high energy physics collaborations can remain productive despite sometimes deep divergences, including those between East and West.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Pulling History from the Waste Stream: Identification and Collection of Manhattan Project and Cold War Era Artifacts on the Hanford Site

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Not everything called "waste" is meant for the refuse pile. The mission of the Curation Program is at direct odds with the remediation objectives of the Hanford Site. While others are busily tearing down and burying the Site's physical structures and their associated contents, the Curation Program seeks to preserve the tangible elements of the Site's history from these structures for future generations before they flow into the waste stream. Under the provisions of a Programmatic Agreement, Cultural Resources staff initiated a project to identify and collect artifacts and archives that have historic or interpretive value in documenting the role of the Hanford Site throughout the Manhattan Project and Cold War Era. The genesis of Hanford's modern day Curation Program, its evolution over nearly two decades, issues encountered, and lessons learned along the way -- particularly the importance of upper management advocacy, when and how identification efforts should be accomplished, the challenges of working within a radiological setting, and the importance of first hand information -- are presented.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2018

Nukes in the Post-Cold War Era A View of the World from Inside the US Nuclear Weapons Program

Why do we have nuclear weapons? What is in the US stockpile, how is it deployed and controlled, and how it has changed over the years? What is in the “nuclear weapons complex” and what does each lab and plant do? How do the DOE/NNSA Design Labs interact with the Intelligence Community? How does the US stockpile, NW complex, and NW policy compare with those of other countries? What is easy and hard about designing nuclear weapons?

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Hot and Cold Wars of the Enola Gay

When the B-29 Superfortress with tail number 44-86292 rolled off the assembly line, no one could have predicted its role in history. Known as the Enola Gay, the bomber carried Little Boy to Hiroshima, helping to end World War II. After the war, largely forgotten and neglected, the Enola Gay once more achieved notoriety, this time at the center of a battle to define its legacy and that of World War II. Personally selected by Colonel Paul Tibbets, the commanding officer of the 509 th Composite Group, 44-86292 was flown to Wendover Airfield in Utah, the training base of Tibbets’ organization. In July 1945, 44-86292 was flown to the Pacific Island of Tinian, where it completed eight training and two combat missions. Tibbets, who seldom flew the bomber, took the controls on July 31 st for a simulated nuclear combat mission. On August 5 th , Tibbetts named 44-86292 the Enola Gay, in honor of his mother, and then piloted the bomber to Hiroshima on August 6 th . When publicity pictures were released, the Enola Gay became famous, ultimately destined for the Smithsonian.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1999

Reuse fo a Cold War Surveillance Drone to Flight Test a NASA Rocket Based Combined Cycle Engine

Plans for and early feasibility investigations into the modification of a Lockheed D21B drone to flight test the DRACO Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) engine are discussed. Modifications include the addition of oxidizer tanks, modern avionics systems, actuators, and a vehicle recovery system. Current study results indicate that the D21B is a suitable candidate for this application and will allow demonstrations of all DRACO engine operating modes at Mach numbers between 0.8 and 4.0. Higher Mach numbers may be achieved with more extensive modification. Possible project risks include low speed stability and control, and recovery techniques.

Brown, T. M.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Cleaning up the Legacy of the Cold War: Plutonium Oxides and the Role of Synchrotron Radiation Research

The deceptively simple binary formula of AnO 2 belies an incredibly complex structural nature, and propensity to form mixed-valent, nonstoichiometric phases of composition AnO 2±x . For plutonium, the very formation of PuO 2+x has challenged a long-established dogma, and raised fundamental questions for long-term storage and environmental migration. This presentation covers two aspects of Los Alamos synchrotron radiation studies of plutonium oxides: (1) the structural chemistry of laboratory-prepared AnO 2+x systems (An = U, Pu; 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) determined through a combination of x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) and x-ray scattering of laboratory prepared samples; and (2) the application of synchrotron radiation towards the decontamination and decommissioning of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. Making the case for particle transport mechanisms as the basis of plutonium and americium mobility, rather than aqueous sorption-desorption processes, established a successful scientific basis for the dominance of physical transport processes by wind and water. The scientific basis was successful because it was in agreement with general theory on insolubility of PuO 2 in oxidation state IV, results of ultrafiltration analyses of field water/sediment samples, XAFS analyses of soil, sediment, and concrete samples, and was also in general agreement with on-site monitoring data. This understanding allowed Site contractors to rapidly move to application of soil erosion and sediment transport models as the means of predicting plutonium and americium transport, which led to design and application of site-wide soil erosion control technology to help control downstream concentrations of plutonium and americium in streamflow.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗