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At least 19 records

TREAT Fuel Motion Summary Report. SETH A-E Experiments

In support of the Accident Tolerant Fuels program, experiment devices are being developed to enable transient testing of pressurized water reactor (PWR) type fuel specimens. In fiscal year 2019 several fueled tests were conducted in the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) using the Separate Effects Test Holder (SETH). Five different SETH capsules (SETH A-E) were assembled, each holding a 10-pellet rodlet with 4.9% enriched, commercially-produced fresh UO2 pellets in zirconium alloy cladding with pellet dimensions having typical PWR radial dimensions and a total pellet stack length measuring 10.16 cm. The rodlet’s length allows the specimen to be axially positioned in the center of the core with minimal flux variation over the height of the rodlet. The fuel motion monitoring system (FMMS) is located on the north side of the TREAT reactor. Having direct line-of-sight of the core enables the FMMS to collect spatially-resolved data for fast neutrons generated due to fission occurring in experiment specimens. The FMMS contains 360 channels that make up a 10 (horizontal) by 36 (vertical) array of viewing slots; for the SETH A-E test series 96 proton-recoil scintillator (PRS) detectors were installed in the system. The fast neutrons are detected in the PRS detectors from light produced by the recoil of protons interacting with ZnS(Ag) grains in each detector's scintillator button. This report focuses on the FMMS data captured in the SETH A-E experiments, with multiple transients varying in reactivity addition and length. The first three experiments had a total reactor energy of 101 MJ each and were critical in understanding the FMMS field of view, lead shielding, and other TREAT data acquisition systems. SETH-B2 and C had a reactivity addition of almost double the previous transients and served as a demonstration of the detector array behavior under increased reactor energy. The final two SETH experiments (D and E) were aimed at reaching cladding melting temperatures with a reactor energy over 500 MJ for each test. In preparation for the higher energy transients, the FMMS lead shielding was reduced to 0.5 inches from the 6 inches used in SETH A-C. This was expected to saturate the detectors at the peak of the transient in exchange for higher sensitivity at lower energies after the peak, when the motion was expected. SETH-D was clipped at approximately 3 seconds, which was too early for the FMMS to capture any rodlet motion. SETH-E had the same reactivity addition as SETH-D but the transient time was extended to 18 seconds. The FMMS captured the downward motion of the rodlet in SETH-E as the count rate significantly changed for the detectors viewing the specimen. Snapshots taken throughout the transient helped identify the approximate time at which the motion initiated. Further analysis of the individual detector data captured on a per-millisecond time basis resulted in a determination that the approximate time for the onset of the downward motion was 2.84 ± 0.02 seconds. Neutron radiographs confirmed that downward motion occurred for SETH-D and SETH-E. Motion in SETH-D could also have been captured by the FMMS if the transient time had been longer for SETH-D. Ultimately, these final two tests served to demonstrate the FMMS's ability to track fuel motion during transient experiments at TREAT.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Homochirality as the signature of life: the SETH Cigar

A characteristic hallmark of life is its homochirality: all biomolecules are usually of one hand, e.g. on Earth life uses only L-amino acids for protein synthesis and not their D mirror images. It is therefore suggested that a search for extra-terrestrial life can be approached as a Search for Extra-Terrestrial Homochirality (SETH). A novel miniaturized space polarimeter, called the SETH Cigar, is described which could he used to detect optical rotation as the homochiral signature of life on other planets. Moving parts are avoided by replacing the normal rotating polarizer by multiple fixed polarizers at different angles as in the eye of the bee. It is believed that homochirality will be found in the subsurface layers on Mars as a relic of extinct life.

NASA Center ARC↗

MCNP Analysis fo the Aqua-SETH Experiment in TREAT

The versatile Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility’s capability to deliver customized transient nuclear power excursions gives researchers and developers a multitude of specialized testing options. In conjunction with reactorprescribed delivery of neutron flux, experiment design requires specimen packaging to meet TREAT safety containment requirements and experimenter test objectives. These objectives may range from the very simple separate effects tests (generally dry capsule) to the more complex integral scale testing wherein prototypic boundary or specimen reactor environment conditions are created. The historic MARK-III sodium flow loop that achieved thermalhydraulic prototypic test conditions serves as an example of the more complex experiment design package.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Strong Interaction Studies with Medium Energy Probes

The PI, Kam Seth, and his group have engaged in nuclear and medium-energy particle physics for several decades. This report is the final one in a long successful scientific effort. During the last funding cycle, the Seth group contributed in important ways to the commissioning of the GlueX experiment at JLAB. Prior to joining GlueX, they were long-standing members of the CLEO Collaboration. Their scientific production includes measurements of hadronic cross sections pertinent to the (g-2) muon anomaly, the measurement of certain rare branching fractions of the Omega-minus baryon, and the observation of the first exclusive photoproduction of J/psi in Gluex. Two postdocs, Sean Dobbs and Ting Xiao, secured good faculty positions and are successfully pursuing their own research agendas.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Thermal-hydraulic and Fuel Performance Scoping Studies of a Flowing Water Capsule in TREAT

The restart of the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility has provided a much needed capability for integral transient testing of nuclear fuel. This testing is necessary to qualify new fuel concepts such as those developed under the Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) program, increasing the burnup limit of light water reactor (LWR) fuels, or a variety of other programs under the Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC). The ATF campaign has been the main driver behind the development and implementation of a variety of capsules for TREAT experiments. The Separate-Effect Test Holder (SETH) was a dry capsule that enabled testing of ATF concepts under reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) heating conditions. Following SETH, the Static Environment Rodlet Transient Test Apparatus (SERTTA) was developed to enable RIA testing in a static water environment. In efforts to support the need for future Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) tests, the Transient Water Irradiation System for TREAT (TWIST) capsule has been developed that allows for water to drain from around the fuel rod and lower the pressure to simulate LOCA conditions. All these capsules that have been developed for LWR fuel testing all lack the capability for forced convective cooling which in some applications may limit their ability to test under prototypic conditions. A design and modeling effort has been started to modify the TWIST capsule by adding a flow tube and impeller that can create flowing coolant conditions for the fuel rod. RELAP5-3D and BISON models are being used to study the differences between RIA, LOCA, Anticipated Operational Occurrences (AOO), LWR power cycling, and other transient scenarios under flowing conditions capable in the flowing capsule and the current stagnant water capsules (SERTTA and TWIST). The scoping study will provide guidance on the needed capabilities for the flowing capsule and the limitations of the currently developed capsule for LWR testing in TREAT.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Correction: “When I talk about it, my eyes light up!” Impacts of a national laboratory internship on community college student success

The ORCID iDs are missing for the second, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth author. Please see the authors’ respective ORCID iDs here: Author Seth Van Doren’s ORCID iD is: 0000-0003-0674-277X (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0674-277X). Author Julio Jaramillo Salcido’s ORCID iD is: 0000-0002-4113-5345 (https://orcid.org/orcid.org/0000-0002-4113-5345) Author Gabriel Otero Munoz’s ORCID iD is: 0000-0002-1444-8020 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1444-8020) Author Aparna Manocha’s ORCID iD is: 0000-0001-7824-9971 (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7824-9971) Author Colette L. Flood’s ORCID iD is: 0000-0002-8674-0872 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8674-0872) Author Anne M. Baranger’s ORCID iD is: 0000-0002-1973-4632 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1973-4632)

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Memoirs of an Aeronautical Engineer: Flight Tests at Ames Research Center: 1940-1970

Seth worked over a period of several years to prepare this monograph-collecting information, drafting the text, and finding and selecting the historic photographs. He describes the beginnings of flight research as he knew it at Ames Research Center, recalls numerous World War II programs, relates his experiences with powered-lift aircraft, and concludes with his impressions of two international flight research efforts. His comprehensive collection of large-format photographs of the airplanes and people involved in the various flight activities related in the text constitutes a compelling part of his work.

Anderson, Seth B.↗

SIR-C/X-SAR Observations of Rain Storms

Teh SIR-C/X-sar radar observations of rain storms are the first multi-polarization and multi-frequency observations of percipitation from space. In addition to numerous, often dramatic images of severe weather systems obtained by forming a synthetic aperture in the usual side-looking attitude, several data takes were performed while the radar antennas were parallel to the ground and the radar beams were pointing at nadir. These oppoprtunities coincided with the passage of the Shuttle over Tropical Cyclone Odille in the southern Indian Ocean during the first flight, and over Typhoon Seth in the Western Pacific during the second flight. The resulting observations, or more apropriately, the resulting measurements, demonstrate for the first time the capability of a spaceborne multi-frequency multi-polarization microwave radar system to quantify precipitation rates, to detect hydrometer phase, and to classify rain type.

SIR-C↗

Dynamical System Scaling Application to Zircaloy Cladding Thermal Response During Reactivity-Initiated Accident Experiment

New fuel design and development currently requires 20 to 25 years to be qualified for use by the nuclear power industry. The thermal-hydraulics community has taken advantage of scaling theory to design reduced scale experiments that correctly preserve dominant key phenomena while quantifying distorted phenomena. These techniques can be leveraged in the design and analysis of fuel performance experiments to help reduce the timeline associated with fuel design and development. This study uses the Dynamical System Scaling (DSS) method to analyze cladding temperature data from the recent SETH-C experiment in the TREAT facility and accompanying BISON simulations to assess dynamic distortions occurring throughout the fast power excursion transient. The DSS analysis revealed that on the cool down from peak cladding temperature that the fuel radial power profile is the most sensitive modeling parameter with a heterogenous radial peaking factor corresponding to the lowest distortion compared to a uniform energy deposition. For the heat up to peak cladding temperature the heterogeneous radial power profile corresponded to the shortest process action. Finally, for the heat up to peak cladding temperature, the gap conductance model sensitivity was quantified using process action and shows that the default Light Water Reactor gap conductance model corresponded to the longest process action.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Integration Testing of Ultrasonic Deformation Sensor for TREAT Experiments

Fuel deformation (both axial and radial) information provides insights into fuel performance and failure limits. Traditionally, fuel deformation has been quantified using post-irradiation examinations due to the lack of an appropriate sensor for monitoring deformation in situ. Recent developments in sensor and instrumentation design have led to the use of linear variable differential transformers (LVDT) for monitoring axial strain in fuel during irradiation. Size and operational constraints limit the use of LVDT sensors for radial deformation monitoring, and alternatives are needed. One possible alternative to LVDT sensors is an ultrasonic sensor. Ultrasonic sensors monitor the interaction of high-frequency stress waves with the test object. The resulting response may be analyzed to determine the properties of the material, including stress, strain, microstructure, presence of defects, and the elastic constants. While ultrasonic measurements have been successfully applied for monitoring strain in a number of applications, their use for in-core measurements has been limited. Largely, the limitations are due to the challenges associated with designing sensors that can operate under typical in-core conditions. This report documents testing performed to confirm that the prototypic ultrasonic deformation sensor can be integrated into TREAT irradiation experiments using the SETH capsule.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NNSA SSAP Article VT 101320

Computer simulations of the experiments are being performed using the Los Alamos National Laboratories’ FLAG magnetohydrodynamics code by graduate student Seth Kreher, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Ares by graduate students Robert Masti and Matthew Carrier.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

MRCI Subtask 2.1: Defining Sub-Regional Carbon Storage Systems Final Technical Summary Report

In order to assess the regional and subregional geologic framework of the MRCI area and expand carbon dioxide (CO2) storage characterization efforts in this larger region, the current state of geologic knowledge relative to carbon storage (CS) has been summarized by compiling available geologic data and interpretive results into a centralized resource under Subtask 2.1. The MRCI region is a large area, which includes (1) part of the Forest City Basin and Western Arches, (2) Illinois Basin, (3) Upper Mississippi Embayment, (4) Michigan Basin, (5) Central Arches, (6) Appalachian Basin, and (7) Atlantic Coastal Plain and West Atlantic basins. Basins and arches are subdivided into areas of similar geology based on geologic structures and state-specific stratigraphic nomenclature. A concerted effort was made to present the current understanding of rock-unit stratigraphy in the subsurface of each basin and arch region (and subdivisions therein). Rock units are characterized based on their relative CS potential (saline reservoirs, confining intervals, etc.) within CS systems. CS systems are defined by regional confining units (usually thick, widespread shales), and contain all reservoirs and strata between the regional confining units. Report Authors – Steve Greb and Tom Sparks (Kentucky Geological Survey), Mark Kelley, Sanjay Mawalkar, John Hershberger, Priya Ravi Ganesh, Derrick James, and Stuart Skopec (Battelle), Charles Bopp, Yaghoob Lasemi and Hannes Leetaru (deceased) (Illinois State Geological Survey), Kristin Carter (Pennsylvania Geological Survey), William Harrison (Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education – Michigan Geological Survey), Susan Pool (West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey), James McDonald (Ohio Geological Survey), John Schmelz (Rutgers University), Ryan Clark (Iowa Geological Survey). Other Technical Contributors – Seth Carpenter and John Hickman (Kentucky Geological Survey), Jessica Moore, Eric Lewis, Philip Dinterman, Timothy Vance, and Gary Daft (West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey), Michele Cooney, Robin Anthony, Cheyenne Woodward, and Katherine Schmid (Pennsylvania Geological Survey), Autumn Haagsma and Amber Conner (Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education – Michigan Geological Survey), Kenneth Miller (Rutgers University), Ashley Douds and Valerie Beckham-Feller (Indiana Geological & Water Survey), Michael Solis (Ohio Geological Survey).

Appalachian,Arches,Forest City,Illinois,MRCI,Michi↗

Audio App Brings a Better Nights Sleep

Neuroscientist Seth Horowitz was part of a NASA-funded team at State University of New York Stony Brook demonstrating that low-amplitude vestibular stimulation could induce sleep. After recognizing the same stimulation could be applied through sound, Horowitz founded Sleep Genius, located in Park City, Utah, and released a mobile app of the same name that helps people to get a more restful sleep.

Source record↗

Comparing Theoretically Scaled Biomechanical Models

BACKGROUND An investigation into incorporating space suit aspects required a 50th-percentile male model which was not part of the existing dataset of models. Previously, theoretical models for 5th-percentile female and 95th-percentile male were created utilizing a scaled test subject as close as possible to the target height and weight. Scaling factors were created by taking the height ratio and applying it uniformly to the model body segments, then fine tuning to ensure the theoretical model’s height is as expected. This study was initiated to examine the existing method of isometrically scaling in OpenSim [1,2] and to create alternative methods which do not rely on an existing subject being close in height and weight to the theoretical model of interest. Generating a theoretical biomechanical model provides additional abilities without the reliance on available OpenSim models or real subjects. Gained abilities include creating different percentile models and attaining representative anthropometry for any target height/weight, such as targeting specific crew populations or gaps within the current dataset. METHODS AND RESULTS This study includes 3 methods for generating the theoretical model; utilizing the modified unscaled OpenSim Full Body Rajagopal Model (FBRM) [3,4], a dataset of scaled OpenSim models, and existing scaling factors from Dumas et al. [5]. All methods use the Anthropometric Survey of US Army Personnel (ANSUR II) [6] as an input of necessary anthropometric measurements. The following measurements are retrieved from the ANSUR II collection: mass, stature, cervicale height, acromial height, axilla height, waist height, trochanterion height, lateral femoral epicondyle height, lateral malleolus height, acromion-radiale length, radiale-stylion length, palm length, ball of foot length, bicristal breadth, bimalleolar breadth. Some of the measurements are direct segment lengths and others are utilized to derive segment lengths. Height, weight, and age ranges are the required inputs to parse the collection for a mean value of the measurements. A simple iterative process may be necessary for the output of mean mass and stature consistent with the theoretical model of interest. In some cases, one may specify exact values instead of a range but that is dependent upon whether those exact values pertain to a single subject from the ANSUR II collection. Equations from Dumas et al. were used to calculate scaling factors for the two methods that utilize OpenSim scaled and unscaled models. In the third method, Dumas’ scaling factors were used directly instead of generating our own. After scaling factors are achieved, they are applied along with the mass and segment lengths retrieved from ANSUR II in order to calculate the segment mass, Center of Mass (CoM), mass Moment of Inertia (MoI), and the joint location in the parent frame. The theoretical models from the different methods were compared to the previous existing method of isometrically scaling in OpenSim, as well as the standards found in NASA STD-3000 [7] and the NASA Human Integration Design Handbook [8]. The whole-body center of mass is the main comparison performed between the models and the standards. The body segment mass properties were also compared when possible. In some cases, the standards do not provide complete data, or the center of mass location is not provided with respect to the appropriate joint coordinate system. For a 50th-percentile male subject, results from isometric scaling in OpenSim and the method utilizing the unscaled FBRM were compared to the standards in NASA STD-3000. According to the standard, the whole-body vertical CoM location was taken from the head vertex to the CoM. The standards provide 80.2 cm for the CoM vertical component whereas isometric scaling in OpenSim and utilizing the unscaled FBRM provide 82.2 and 82.3 cm, respectively. Through definition, the whole-body CoM in the medial/lateral direction agreed across the models. Investigation is on-going to clearly identify the reference point pertaining to dorsal/ventral whole-body CoM position in standards and relate that to the theoretical models. REFERENCES [1] Delp, S.L., et al., “OpenSim: Open-source Software to Create and Analyze Dynamic Simulations of Movement”, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, (2007). [2] Seth, A., Hicks J.L., Uchida, T.K., Habib, A., Dembia, C.L., Dunne, J.J., Ong, C.F., DeMers, M.S., Rajagopal, A., Millard, M., Hamner, S.R., Arnold, E.M., Yong, J.R., Lakshmikanth, S.K., Sherman,n M.A., Delp, S.L. OpenSim: Simulating musculoskeletal dynamics and neuromuscular control to study human and animal movement. Plos Computational Biology, 14(7). (2018) [3] R. K. Huffman, W. K. Thompson, C. A. Gallo, L. J. Quiocho, “Improvement of Scaling and Inverse Kinematic Results with Additional Upper Body Joints Added to Opensim Rajagopal Model”, NASA Human Research Program Investigator’s Workshop, (2019). [4] Huffman R.K., Thompson W., Gallo C., “Modified OpenSim Rajagopal Full Body Model”, New Technology Report, MSC-26872-1. (August 2020). [5] Dumas R., Cheze L. and Verriest J., 2007. “Adjustments to McConville et al. and Young et al. body segment inertial parameters”. Journal of Biomechanics 40, pp. 543-553 [6] Gordon C.C., 2012 “Anthropometric Survey of U.S. Army Personnel: Methods and Summary Statistics”, US Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center. [7] NASA STD-3000/REV-B, 1995. “The Man-System Integration Standards” [8] NASA/SP-2010-3407/REV-1, 2014. “The Human Integration Design Handbook (HIDH)”

F N Matari↗

Application of Dynamical System Scaling for Accelerated Fuel Qualification Efforts

There are considerable ongoing research and testing campaigns to qualify new fuel designs such as metallic fuels for advanced reactor designs and the Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) campaign for light water reactors (LWR). The typical research and development lifecycle needed to qualify a nuclear fuel design, under ideal conditions, can take up to 20-25 years which limits the ability for new fuels to make fast deployments into commercial, test, and research reactors. While there are several efforts to accelerate nuclear fuel qualification through advanced modeling coupled with state-of-the-art experiments, there is not yet a framework to methodically quantify and rank distortions occurring in experimental test specimens needed to validate nuclear fuel performance codes. This study uses the Dynamical System Scaling (DSS) methodology to quantify transient scaling distortions that occur over experiment and simulated transients. DSS analysis metrics provide a researcher with several tools and information embedded within test data to identify dominant phenomena, associated timescales, and quantify a transient?s overall dynamic distortion. This is demonstrated with separate analyses of the SETH-C and CHF-SERTTA thermal-hydraulic experiments in the TREAT facility at Idaho National Laboratory. The outcome of this work is a scaling and data analysis approach to account for the influence a scaled fuel test specimen?s geometric and temporal distortions have on its ability to be representative of the full-scale design.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Intrinsic and environmental drivers of pairwise cohesion in wild Canis social groups

Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission–fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals. We tracked 574 individuals from six species within the genus Canis in 15 countries on four continents with GPS telemetry to estimate the time that pairs of individuals within social groups spent in close proximity and test hypotheses regarding drivers of cohesion. Pairs of social canids (Canis spp.) varied widely in the proportion of time they spent together (5%–100%) during seasonal monitoring periods relative to both intrinsic characteristics and environmental conditions. The majority of our data came from three species of wolves (gray wolves, eastern wolves, and red wolves) and coyotes. For these species, cohesion within social groups was greatest between breeding pairs and varied seasonally as the nature of cooperative activities changed relative to annual life history patterns. Across species, wolves were more cohesive than coyotes. For wolves, pairs were less cohesive in larger groups, and when suitable, small prey was present reflecting the constraints of food resources and intragroup competition on social associations. Pair cohesion in wolves declined with increased anthropogenic modification of the landscape and greater climatic variability, underscoring challenges for conserving social top predators in a changing world. We show that pairwise cohesion in social groups varies strongly both within and across Canis species, as individuals respond to changing ecological context defined by resources, competition, and anthropogenic disturbance. Our work highlights that cohesion is a highly plastic component of animal sociality that holds significant promise for elucidating ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying cooperative behavior.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

n–Doping of a Low–Electron–Affinity Polymer Used as an Electron–Transport Layer in Organic Light–Emitting Diodes

n-Doping electron-transport layers (ETLs) increases their conductivity and improves electron injection into organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Because of the low electron affinity and large bandgaps of ETLs used in green and blue OLEDs, n-doping has been notoriously more difficult for these materials. In this work, n-doping of the polymer poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl)-alt-(benzo[2,1,3]thiadiazol-4,7-diyl)] (F8BT) is demonstrated via solution processing, using the air-stable n-dopant (pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)(1,3,5-trimethylbenzene)ruthenium dimer [RuCp*Mes] 2 . Undoped and doped F8BT films are characterized using ultraviolet and inverse photoelectron spectroscopy. The ionization energy and electron affinity of the undoped F8BT are found to be 5.8 and 2.8 eV, respectively. Upon doping F8BT with [RuCp*Mes] 2 , the Fermi level shifts to within 0.25 eV of the F8BT lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, which is indicative of n-doping. Conductivity measurements reveal a four orders of magnitude increase in the conductivity upon doping and irradiation with ultraviolet light. Here, the [RuCp*Mes] 2 -doped F8BT films are incorporated as an ETL into phosphorescent green OLEDs, and the luminance is improved by three orders of magnitude when compared to identical devices with an undoped F8BT ETL.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗