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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 OSTI2026

U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender Data and Metadata, 2026

The U.S. Hydropower Relicensing and License Surrender Database (2026) provides a comprehensive, nationwide snapshot (as of December 31, 2025) of hydropower projects across the United States that are undergoing Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing or license surrender processes. Compiled by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the dataset includes detailed project-level attributes such as geographic location, ownership type, waterway, project type (hydropower or pumped storage), regulatory milestones (e.g., Notice of Intent, application dates, FERC issuance dates), licensing process type (ILP, TLP, ALP), operational characteristics, capacity changes, settlement agreements, construction or turbine‑generator investments, and project status categories spanning relicensing, surrenders, exemptions, and terminations. Together, the relicensing and surrender records offer a detailed view of regulatory trends, infrastructure transitions, dam removals, and economic drivers influencing the evolution of the U.S. hydropower fleet.

Johnson, Megan [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000290141741)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Basin-Scale Relicensing Opportunity Product User Guide

The Basin-Scale Relicensing Opportunity products provide a platform for identifying favorable areas for basin-wide collaboration using metrics derived from anticipated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing dates. The hydropower relicensing process requires long-term resource allocation by agencies, hydropower owner/operators, non-governmental organizations, and tribal, state, and federal governments. Basin-scale hydropower relicensing has begun to receive attention as a potential solution for reducing licensing timelines, costs, and uncertainty which can provide benefits to a broad spectrum of participants in the licensing process. Two products were developed: (1) an interactive web map that allows users to browse facilities and rivers of interest and uncover locations for potential collaboration based on FERC relicensing metrics summarized along river reaches and (2) a spreadsheet that contains 1,261 facilities with associated FERC relicensing metrics and that allows users to join these data to others and develop and conduct their own analyses.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Basin-Scale Relicensing Opportunity

This dataset contains 1,261 hydropower facilities with associated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing metrics. Anticipated FERC license renewal dates are summarized by river reach for observing areas of opportunities for basin-wide collaboration on environmental mitigations. Identifying rivers and basins with facilities that have similar anticipated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing dates may be one potential indicator that multiple licensees within the same basin may be willing to collaborate on a basin-scale relicensing effort. The hydropower relicensing process requires long-term resource allocation by agencies, hydropower owner/operators, non-governmental organizations, and tribal, state, and federal governments. Basin-scale hydropower relicensing has begun to receive attention as a potential solution for reducing licensing timelines, costs, and uncertainty which can provide benefits to a broad spectrum of participants in the licensing process. This dataset contains one a data file in comma separated (*.csv) format, a data dictionary in *.csv format, and a user guide in *.pdf format. These data are also available as an interactive web map available at:

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

U.S. Hydropower Relicensing Map Series V1.1

This thematic map series uses Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s 2016 Existing Hydropower Assets Plant Dataset to map currently operational FERC-licensed hydropower plants that are anticipated to be up for relicensing in the near-term.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Basin-Wide Approaches to Hydropower Licensing

This presentation summarizes findings from a 2020 NREL technical report including the FERC relicensing process for non-federal hydropower projects, analyzes FERC-licensed projects with license expiration dates from 2018-2037, discusses FERC's authority to coordinate license terms of hydropower projects within a shared river basin and provides basin-wide case studies and considerations to hydropower relicensing. In the United States there are 1,043 active FERC-licensed hydroelectric projects with a total capacity of 56,097 MW. Of those, 647 with a total capacity of 21,870 MW have license expiration dates from 2018-2037. The expected workload in conjunction with the time, cost, and complexity associated with issuing a single new license has led to initiatives that aim to increase the efficiency of the relicensing process. Federal and state regulators and licensees in California, Maine, New York, and Wisconsin have begun to develop approaches to look at hydropower relicensing as part of a larger system - a river basin. These basin-wide approaches seek to coordinate different stages of the relicensing process for multiple projects at the same time. The goal of these basin-wide approaches is to increase the efficiency of the relicensing process and allow for a more comprehensive analysis of the cumulative impacts of the projects within the basin. These innovative approaches to relicensing could also reduce the workload for regulators and costs associated with relicensing. This presentation discusses some of the findings from the Basin-wide Approaches to Hydropower Relicensing: Case Studies and Considerations including a summary of the key considerations for the FERC relicensing process for non-federal hydropower projects, key findings from the analysis of FERC-licensed projects with license expiration dates from 2018-2037, discusses FERC's authority to coordinate license terms of hydropower projects within a shared river basin and provides basin-wide case studies and considerations to hydropower relicensing.

basin-wide↗
DOE OSTI2020

Costs of mitigating the environmental impacts of hydropower projects in the United States

Developers are required to mitigate the environmental impacts of hydropower projects in the United States (U.S.) but there is very little accessible information on the associated costs. This work compiles and analyses a dataset of environmental impacts mitigation costs for 182 hydropower projects based on documents obtained from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The analysis shows that environmental costs vary wildly across hydropower project classes and mitigation measures, even when normalized by plant capacity. Capital costs per kilowatt are generally higher for relicensed conventional hydropower plants, and lower for new and relicensed pumped storage hydropower plants, relative to other project classes. Smaller plants tend to spend a higher share of total project costs on mitigating environmental impacts than larger plants, and measures related to Aquatic Species, Project Operations, and Recreation have the highest capital cost per kilowatt. These findings mean that environmental costs could become a key decision variable for new hydropower developments in the U.S. due to the small scale of most of the remaining potential and the increasing stringency of environmental requirements. Therefore, technologies to reduce the environmental impacts and costs of hydropower would be important for future project developments.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

NREL Helps Hydropower Projects Navigate Complex Regulatory Currents

Hydropower accounts for about 37% of U.S. renewable electricity generation. But before industry members can license and construct new projects or relicense existing projects, they must navigate complex approvals from federal, state, and tribal authorities. These regulations provide critical protections for water quality, species, cultural resources, and recreation, but they can also increase the costs, risks, and uncertainties to license or relicense projects.

HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Estimated capital costs of fish exclusion technologies for hydropower facilities

Hydropower is a reliable source of renewable energy, and its future expansion is likely to be in the form of either smaller new stream development (NSD) projects or powering existing non-powered dams. Thresholds for entrainment risk to fish and the requirements for fish exclusion at hydropower facilities often differ depending on the species involved, the characteristics of the facility, and the goals of stakeholders, but little quantitative information is present within the literature regarding the specific costs of fish exclusion measures. Cost data associated with protection, mitigation, and enhancement (PM&E) measures related to positive barrier screening were identified using keyword searches of an existing environmental mitigation cost data set and manual extraction from regulatory licensing documents available in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) eLibrary. This approach yielded a total of 50 p.m.&E mitigation measures with estimated capital construction costs pertaining to positive barrier screens and represented <10% of the 171 total FERC project dockets available in the data set. These data were highly skewed toward conventional relicensing projects, as <7% were associated with NSD projects. Results indicate highly variable costs are associated with fish screening, with flow-normalized costs one to two orders of magnitude higher for screening with the highest exclusion capability (≤0.09 in. spacing) compared with coarser screening (1–2 in.). These data provide an initial baseline for estimating exclusion costs for hydropower development and may help developers consider options for more fish-friendly generation technologies, though gaps remain relating to a lack of data, particularly for NSD projects.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sister Rod Destructive Examinations (FY20)

As a part of DOE NE High Burnup Spent Fuel Data Project, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is performing destructive examinations (DEs) of high burnup (HBU) (>45 GWd/MTU) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods from the North Anna Nuclear Power Station operated by Dominion Energy. The SNF rods, called sister rods or sibling rods, are all HBU and include four different kinds of fuel rod cladding: standard Zircaloy-4 (Zirc-4), low-tin Zirc-4, ZIRLO, and M5. The DEs are being conducted to obtain a baseline of the HBU rod’s condition before dry storage and are focused on understanding overall SNF rod strength and durability. Composite fuel and defueled cladding will be tested to derive material properties. Although the data generated can be used for multiple purposes, one primary goal for obtaining the post-irradiation examination data and the associated measured mechanical properties is to support SNF dry storage licensing and relicensing activities by (1) addressing identified knowledge gaps and (2) enhancing the technical basis for post-storage transportation, handling, and subsequent disposition. This report documents the status of the ORNL Phase I DEs of 8 sister rods and outlines the DE tasks performed and the data collected to date, as guided by the sister rod test plans.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sister Rod Destructive Examinations (FY20) Appendix A: Full Length Rod Heat Treatments (FHT)

As a part of the US DOE-NE High Burnup Spent Fuel Data Project, ORNL is performing destructive examinations (DEs) of high burnup (HBU) (>45 gigawatt days per metric ton uranium) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods from the North Anna Nuclear Power Station operated by Dominion Energy. The SNF rods, called the “sister rods,” are all HBU and include four different kinds of fuel rod cladding: standard Zircaloy-4, low-tin Zircaloy-4, ZIRLO®, and M5®. The DEs are being conducted to obtain a baseline of the HBU rod’s condition prior to dry storage and are focused on understanding overall SNF rod strength and durability. Both composite fuel and empty cladding are being tested. While the data generated can be used for multiple purposes, a primary goal for obtaining the post-irradiation examination data will support SNF dry storage licensing and relicensing activities.This report documents the status of the ORNL Phase 1 DE activities related to full length rod heat treatments (FHT) applied to selected sister rods in Phase 1 of the sister rod test program. The results of this work and detailed examinations are summarized in the Sister Rod DE Status Report.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sister Rod Destructive Examinations (FY20) Appendix B: Segmentation, Defueling, Metallograhic Data and Total Cladding Hydrogen

As a part of the US DOE-NE High Burnup Spent Fuel Data Project, ORNL is performing destructive examinations (DEs) of high burnup (>45 gigawatt days per metric ton uranium) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods from the North Anna Nuclear Power Station operated by Dominion Energy. The SNF rods, called the “sister rods,” are all HBU and include four different kinds of fuel rod cladding: standard Zircaloy-4, low-tin Zircaloy-4, ZIRLO®, and M5®. The DEs are being conducted to obtain a baseline of the HBU rod’s condition prior to dry storage and are focused on understanding overall SNF rod strength and durability. Both composite fuel and empty cladding are being tested. While the data generated can be used for multiple purposes, a primary goal for obtaining the post-irradiation examination data and the associated measured mechanical properties is to support SNF dry storage licensing and relicensing activities.This report documents the status of the ORNL Phase 1 DE activities related to: rough segmentation, defueling, optical microscopy, and cladding total hydrogen measurements for 7 Phase 1 sister rods and outlines the DE tasks performed and the data collected to date. The results of these detailed examinations and others are summarized in the Sister Rod DE Status Report.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of Modular and Scalable Downstream Passage Systems for Silver American Eels

Implementation of effective downstream passage for silver-phase American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) at hydropower dams using methods that are economically feasible has been a challenge for many project owners. Due to the potential for high mortality rates during turbine passage, resource agencies have focused on mandatory prescriptions that prevent entrainment by physically excluding eels (i.e., narrow trash rack bar spacing) or eliminating turbines as a passage route (i.e., unit shutdowns at night when eel movement is greatest). Both of these options can significantly impact the economic viability of a project. Consequently, there is a need for alternative technologies that can provide safe and effective downstream passage for silver eels without having a major impact on the ability of a project to generate power during the eel downstream migration period. This need is of particular concern now because about 300 hydropower projects within the range of American Eel freshwater habitats are scheduled to be relicensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the next 15 years

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗