U.S. Department of Energy Innovative Nuclear Research Highlights The Oregon State University TRIGA reactor is a water cooled, pool type research reactor which uses uranium/zirconium hydride fuel elements in a circular grid array. The reactor is licensed by the U.S. Regulatory Commission to operate at a maximum stead state power of 1.1 MW and can also be pulsed up to a peak power of about 2,500 MW.
ii INNOVATIVE NUCLEAR RESEARCH Overview
Innovative Nuclear Research (INR) houses the competitively funded programs ad- ministered by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE). INR provides a consolidated vision and peer review process to DOE-NE research and de- velopment programs and dedicates support to training the next generation of nuclear scientists through multiple student opportunities.
Through the Consolidated Innovative DOE-NE conducts Several programs fall under the INR umbrella: Nuclear Research Funding Opportunity Announcement, NE conducts Nuclear Energy University Program crosscutting nuclear energy research (NEUP) - University research integrated and development (R&D) and associated with overall DOE-NE program priorities infrastructure support activities to develop innovative technologies Integrated University Program (IUP) - that offer the promise of dramatically Student educational support to improved performance for its mission train the next generation nuclear needs, while maximizing the impact of energy workforce DOE resources. Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Through the Integrated University Crosscutting Technology Development Program (IUP), DOE-NE ensures an (NEET-CTD) - Technology development adequate number of high-quality nuclear focused on applicability to multiple science and engineering (NS&E) students reactor designs will (1) support the need for qualified personnel to develop and maintain Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) - the nation’s nuclear power technology, Unique capability access to (2) enhance educational institutions’ enhance university and industry capabilities to perform nuclear energy- research projects related RD&D, and (3) meet DOE’s and the national laboratories’ needs for highly trained scientists and engineers in support of DOE-NE programs. 1 Award Recipients
Through the Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and the Integrated University Program (IUP), $729 million has been awarded to 125 U.S colleges and universities, 7 national laboratories, and 11 industry/utilities in 42 states and the District of Columbia.
2 $729,745,412 TOTA AWAR T ROUG CI R IU
Research & Development Integrated University Program
Integrated Infrastructure Research Projects
677 ro ects 22 ro ects 241 ro ects 772 ro ects
531,286,612 $89,009,625 $64,649,176 $44,799,999 Total R unding Total IR unding Total Infrastructure unding Total IU unding
3 Nuclear Research & Development
The Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) consists of three research and development (R&D) components that align with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) mission and goals.
The Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) awards competitively funded research and development opportunities in two main areas—fuel cycle and reactor concepts. The Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Crosscutting Technology Development (CTD) program funds research that complements NEUP R&D. Programs partner with the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) program to provide R&D funds with access to one-of-a- kind facilities to enable research not typically available to university and industry researchers.
All applications undergo a rigorous multistage review process, including an independent peer review, to ensure projects are funded based on technical merit and relevance to DOE- NE’s mission. Awardees are required to submit progress reports and meet specific milestones.
Nuclear Energy University Program: University research integrated with overall Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory member works on advancing the understanding of ion-solid interactions by providing DOE-NE program priorities unique and extensive facilities to support both research and development in the field. Photo courtesy: Joseph Xu, Fuel Cycle: Evolving sustainable fuel Michigan Engineering, Communications & Marketing. cycle technologies that improve energy generation, enhance safety, limit
4 proliferation risk, and reduce waste generation and NEUP NEET NSUF resource consumption.
Reactor Concepts: Preserving the remaining commercial light water reactors as well as improving emerging advanced designs, such as small 562 97 45 72 30 9 43 26 5 modular reactors, liquid-metal-cooled ro ects Insitutions Awards/year ro ects Insitutions Awards/year ro ects Insitutions Awards/year fast reactors, and gas- or liquid-salt- cooled high-temperature reactors. $800K PROJECTS $1M PROJECTS $500K PROJECTS
Average # TECHNICAL Nuclear Energy Enabling of pre apps 570 3 AREAS: $10 million Technologies: Technology Average # Advanced Manufacturing, in SU facility access/year development focused on of full apps 225 Sensors Instrumentation, Materials applicability to multiple reactor designs Advanced Manufacturing: $410.3M $72.6M $48.3M Total R unding 200 201 Total R unding 2012 201 Total R unding 201 201 Fabrication and repair techniques to increase viability of existing reactors or improve speed of manufacturing for NSUF Access Only projects: Allows new nuclear plants. industry leads to access NSUF facilities for large ion irradiations, neutron Advanced Sensors and irradiations or post-irradiation Instrumentation: Demonstration examination work to enhance industry- of new sensor, instrumentation or funded research projects. controls technologies that enhance the operations of nuclear facilities. Since 2009, the NEUP and CINR opportunities have received more Nuclear Science User Facilities: than 6,500 pre-applications and over Unique capability access to 2,900 full applications. From those enhance university and indus- applications, DOE-NE has awarded try research projects 658 research and development projects to 141 different academic, Joint R&D and NSUF research national laboratory and industry projects: NEUP and NEET project funds research institutions. are combined with NSUF access to enhance research projects with one-of- These projects have resulted in support a-kind testing capabilities. for 2,133 students, over 1,200 scientific publications and over 10,000 citations in other scientific works.
5 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT Seawater Yields Yellowcake Uranium by Kate Meehan for DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program
time span, as various agencies estimate that current methods of uranium mining will only provide around 100 more years of capacity for the world’s nuclear power plants.
The potential for extracting uranium from seawater, by contrast, is almost limitless. Seawater contains approximately three parts per billion of uranium, a seemingly tiny amount. Yet with a total ocean volume of approximately 1.3x109 km³, there are over 4 billion tons of uranium in seawater—about 1000 times the amount known to exist on land. Environmentally sustainable separation and recovery of uranium from seawater has been an ongoing research area supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE).
Chien Wai, principal investigator, displays the yellowcake uranium extracted using methods developed in NEUP-supported The low concentration of uranium in projects. Photo courtesy of LCW Supercritical Technologies. seawater (as well as its stable chemical form, uranyl tris-carbonato complex, Dipping a bundle of yarn into the ceramic glazes and for tinting in or UO2(CO3)3) makes the extraction of ocean and pulling out uranium sounds early photography. Its radioactive uranium extraction extremely difficult. easy enough. This method of extracting properties were not recognized until Scientists, mainly in Japan, have been uranium from seawater, an effort led 1866, and its potential for use as an tackling this challenge since the 1980s. by Chien Wai, emeritus chemistry energy source was not manifested These scientists determined that professor at the University of Idaho, until the mid-20th Century. Today, amidoxime-based polymer adsorbents has created quite a splash with its uranium is used to power commercial have the greatest potential, thanks to promising results. But while the process nuclear reactors that produce their mechanical strength and high itself may be fairly straightforward, electricity and to produce isotopes uranium loading capacities. reaching this point of success has taken used for medical, industrial and a significant amount of time and effort. defense purposes around the world. To continue this area of study, Wai applied for—and received—support Uranium is a silvery-white metallic Traditionally, uranium has been from DOE’s Nuclear Energy University chemical element that occurs naturally mined the same way other heavy Program (NEUP)back in 2011. This in low concentrations in soil, rock metals are extracted from the was in addition to ongoing support and water. For many years, uranium earth. In addition to environmental from DOE’s Small Business Innovation was used primarily as a colorant for concerns, this method has a limited Research (SBIR) program for LCW
6 Supercritical Technologies. Wai is CEO intensive process of radiation-induced Wai’s main objectives with his NEUP of LCW Supercritical Technologies, a grafting and treatment with a strong research included adsorption capacity, company focused on bringing this new potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution durability for reuse, and affordability, as technology to market. Both avenues of to make it effective for uranium these factors determine the economic funding from DOE have helped bring adsorption in seawater. Hydrochloric feasibility for future commercial Wai’s idea to fruition. acid has traditionally been used to extraction of uranium from seawater. elute uranium from the adsorbent, To this end, Wai aimed to develop a The first phase of his research was which must then be treated with KOH new, milder elution process that would carried out over a two-year period again to recondition the adsorbent. result in minimal damage to the fiber and was then followed by a second, For his NEUP projects, Wai mainly used adsorbent. During his five years of three-year NEUP research and a variety of this adsorbent referred to NEUP funding, Wai explored a number development project. Over the course as AF1. of different methods, including of these studies, Wai worked with both carbonate elution and supercritical national laboratory partners and his In Wai’s study, AF1 had an initial fluid elution, before settling on a home university. Oak Ridge National uranium adsorption capacity of about bicarbonate elution technique. Wai Laboratory (ORNL) developed an 3.7 g U/kg after 42 days of seawater describes his new process, which uses adsorbent and provided it to Wai, who exposure. After the acid elution and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), as then carried out most of the work the KOH reconditioning process, the “very effective” for removing uranium at his lab at the University of Idaho. uranium adsorption capacity of the from the adsorbent. Uranium adsorption, elution and recycled adsorbent dropped drastically sorbent reuse tests were performed to about 0.5 g U/kg. Wai theorized that In real seawater experiments carried using a recirculating seawater a combination of factors during the out at PNNL, the fiber attracted heavy flume system available at the Pacific elution and reconditioning process metals as well as natural organic Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) causes physical and chemical changes matter, which was not removed by Marine Sciences Laboratory located in to the material that reduce its uranium the bicarbonate elution. Wai added Sequim, Washington. adsorption capacity. Spectroscopic a dilute base (0.5M NaOH) soaking techniques (FTIR and SEM) support this step to the process, which removed ORNL’s polymer adsorbent utilizes contention, as Wai observed a decrease organic matter as well as some of the high-surface-area polyethylene in amidoxime groups as well as transition metals. After this process, fibers as the backbone material and physical damage to the fiber structure the initial uranium adsorption capacity shows very high uranium adsorption of the material. of the recycled adsorbent remained capacities. It is prepared through an
“I went to Goodwill and picked up a sweater and a pair of gloves that were 100% acrylic. We can convert waste into a magical material.”
7 Just Add Seawater Tests at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Marine Sciences Laboratory have focused on recreating actual ocean conditions. The purpose is to better understand environmental factors that can degrade acrylic yarn as well as provide accurate estimates of uranium adsorption. The adsorbent is added by attaching it to a flume where raw sea water is circulated for approximately one month (photo: top right). At that time, the yarn is removed from the system, measured and packaged to be sent to Wai’s lab in Moscow, Idaho (photo: bottom right).
Wai emphasizes that this research is in the preliminary stages. To increase production for large-scale industrial application, which would be needed to supply U.S. nuclear reactors, the system would have a large footprint. Wai estimates that several square miles would be needed to deploy enough yarn to collect the necessary levels of uranium.
The adsorbent is added by attaching it to a flume where raw sea water is circulated for approximately one month (photo: top right). At that time, the yarn is removed from the system, measured and packaged to be sent to Wai’s lab in Moscow, Idaho (photo: bottom right).
8 virtually unchanged; however, uranium During the second phase his DOE SBIR Might we find LCW fiber on the shelf adsorption started to decrease with grant, Wai’s experiments yielded over 5 any time soon? Wai says the company subsequent reuse. Wai theorized that grams of yellowcake uranium (uranium is still in the testing phase. So far, the fiber material is probably not stable oxide), a bit more than the size of a U.S. experiments have established the fiber over long-term exposure to seawater. nickel. Yellowcake is the material used as nontoxic, but some questions still in the preparation of fuel for nuclear need to be answered, such as how To combat this, during the first phase reactors. Right now, Wai only has the often the fiber can be recycled and of his DOE SBIR award, Wai developed capacity for small-scale production how to properly dispose of it once it his own highly efficient polymer at his lab in Moscow, Idaho, but he is has reached the end of its usefulness. adsorbent (LCW fiber) derived looking to scale up. Wai’s company is currently looking from acrylic yarn. The material is for private investment to continue to inexpensive, according to Wai, both Future experiments seek to test LCW develop and prove the efficacy of its to purchase and modify. Wai can fiber in an actual ocean installation. technology, particularly in the field of start with any acrylic fiber, which can Thanks to an ongoing grant from the industrial wastewater treatment. readily be found in craft stores in the DOE SBIR program, Wai has continued form of yarn, or even in clothing stores his partnership with PNNL. In 2019, the With an impressive amount of success already made into apparel. team will begin testing in the warm already under its belt, LCW fiber is well waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Since the on its way to becoming a novel, green “I went to Goodwill and picked up a material performs better in warmer technology capable of providing both sweater and a pair of gloves that were water, Wai expects higher removal waste cleanup and uranium extraction 100% acrylic,” said Wai. “We can convert rates of uranium from the region than in the years to come. waste into a magical material.” have been found at PNNL’s home in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, if Wai could find a large enough volume of recycled fiber, he would not Looking forward, Wai envisions a need to use any newly created material. bright future for his new technology. The fiber is also reusable (though its While uranium remains the focus, life span is still under investigation), LCW fiber is also effective at removing making this a truly green technology. heavy metals like lead from water. Wai sees the potential for LCW fiber Once he has the acrylic fiber, Wai to be used in a variety of ways to help performs a simple chemical process with heavy metal cleanup, from a to prepare it for uranium adsorption. large mining site to the water filter in The overall procedure is significantly your kitchen. In fact, his company is cheaper than the process of radiation- currently comparing its technology induced grafting required to create to commercially available filters for fibers like AF1. drinking water.
9 Integrated Research Projects
Integrated Research Projects (IRPs) comprise a significant element of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) innovative nuclear research objectives and represent the Program Directed (PD) component of the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) strategy to provide research and development (R&D) solutions most directly relevant to the near-term, significant needs of the NE R&D programs.
IRPs are significant projects within specific research areas. IRPs are intended to develop a capability within each area to address specific needs, problems, or capability gaps identified and defined by NE. These projects are multidisciplinary and require multi-institutional partners. IRPs may include a combination of evaluation capability development, research program development, experimental work, and computer simulations. Past areas include:
• Advanced reactor design; • Used fuel disposal and transportation; • Accident tolerant fuel development; • Materials irradiation techniques; • Transient test reactor instrumentation and fuel testing; • Used fuel cask inspection and repair techniques; • Compact heat exchangers development; and • Modeling and simulation.
Dr. Travis Knight, University of South Carolina, lifts an interchangeable experimental rod from a fuel storage canister.
10 22 16 1 $3M to $7M Institutions Award per Projects workscope area
Total 2011-2019 IRP funding $89,009,625
IRPs are intended to integrate several the proposed project team may disciplinary skills in order to present include multiple universities and solutions to complex systems design non-university partners (e.g., industry/ problems that cannot be addressed by utility, minority-serving institution, a less comprehensive team. national laboratory, underrepresented group, and international). Although a proposing team must be led by a university principal investigator and include at least one additional university collaborator,
11 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT Kairos Power: DOE-NE Integrated Research Project to Nuclear Startup by Paul Menser for DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program
Gus Merwin, test engineer at Kairos Power, supervising a salt material compatibility test in the Kairos Power laboratory at corporate headquarters in Alameda, California.
Kairos Power, a California-based stage of commercialization. Although Additionally, the technology has the company aiming to transform the the concept itself is not new, potential to provide a reliable and energy landscape in the United novel developments in associated steady foundation of energy to the States by combining existing technology have made the reactor other renewable sources on the technologies in new and exciting a viable power production and heat grid, which have intermittent ways, is modernizing fluoride-salt- processing option. This is important power sources. cooled high-temperature reactor to the economy as other energy (FHR) technology for an emerging sources continue to become more Based on research funded through expensive in the United States. the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Energy University Program
12 (NEUP), Kairos is using past data to Breeder Reactor-II indicated that With the cancellation of DOE’s create current solutions. decay heat from low-pressure, molten salt reactor program in the liquid-cooled reactors could be 1970s, expertise in the technology Advances made in understanding passively rejected to the local air was no longer a priority for national and predicting the performance of without fuel damage. Similarly, laboratory or university projects. passive safety systems have created the ongoing advanced gas reactor Subsequently Flibe was studied for new and unexpected opportunities fuel testing program demonstrated use as a coolant in fusion systems, for decades-old ideas. ceramic-coated-particle fuel but capabilities to work with Flibe could be mechanically robust and experimentally were lost. The idea of an FHR dates back to manufactured at an acceptable price. 2001, when the Generation IV forum Although the company wasn’t chose molten salt reactors as one of Today, nearly 20 years later, Kairos’s incorporated until 2016, Kairos’s story six concepts to pursue. In 2004, DOE’s founding officers—CEO Mike actually began in 2011. Through Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Laufer, Chief Technology Officer NEUP, a three-year Integrated started supporting FHR development Ed Blandford and Chief Nuclear Research Project (IRP) was awarded to on a small scale through its Officer Per Peterson—plan to have a MIT and its partners at the University laboratories and university research demonstration reactor in operation of California, Berkeley (UCB) and the programs. In 2010, DOE-NE endorsed before 2030. University of Wisconsin, Madison FHRs as a potential means for (UW). The proposal opened with achieving the administration’s The FHR concept combines this statement: research and development (R&D) three elements: goals for nuclear energy. “(The objective) is to develop a path 1. Li2BeF4, a lithium-beryllium- forward to a commercially viable salt- FHRs rely upon technology that fluoride salt known as Flibe; cooled solid-fuel high-temperature was not available during the earlier reactor with superior economic, molten salt reactor (MSR) era back 2. Tri-structural isotropic (TRISO)- safety, waste, non-proliferation, in the 1950s. Still, by the time the coated particle fuel embedded in and physical security characteristics government’s MSR program was small graphite pebbles, originally compared to light-water reactors.” cancelled in the 1970s, substantial developed for high-temperature technical progress had been gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs); and “This was the first project that used made on other reactor classes and Flibe salt as a coolant for solid fuel technologies that support FHRs. 3. Low-pressure, High temperature, in a reactor,” said Todd Allen, the For example, data collected in the thin walled vellel and piping materials testing lead on the 2011 mid-1980s at Argonne National originally developed for sodium IRP project. Laboratory’s Idaho Experimental cooled fast reactors.
13 Students pose on the Compact Integral Effects (CIET) Test facility, a scaled thermal hydraulics facility that provides data on salt cooling behavior in FHRs. The CIET team included now Kairos CEO, Dr. Michael Laufer (front, second from right) and Dr. Per Peterson, Kairos Chief Nuclear Officer (front, fourth from right).
14 Integrated Research Projects FLiBe Salt
Massachusetts Institute of Technology TRISO Fuel University of California, Berkeley Low Pressure FHR University of Wisconsin, Madison University of New Mexico High Temperature Technology
HighSteam Temperature Cycle
What followed were workshops in contributing in this area as university 2012 involving graduate students professors and national laboratory or from all three institutions. Their industry staff. “These were the involvement—the questions they asked, the discoveries they made and IRPs represent the program-directed first students in a the perspectives they offered—gave component of NEUP by providing the IRP a different kind of energy. research and development (R&D) generation that “These were the first students solutions most directly relevant to the in a generation that worked on near-term, significant needs of the worked on developing developing a molten salt reactor.” NE R&D programs. IRPs complement the other NEUP components, which a molten salt During the IRP workshops, retired include program supporting and Oak Ridge National Laboratory mission supporting university-based reactor.” personnel in their late 70s and 80s R&D, university reactor and research provided guidance on technical equipment infrastructure upgrades, direction, insight and discussion of and Integrated University Program pertinent issues; this allowed for student fellowship and scholarship knowledge transfer to graduate grants. They are significant three- students working on the projects. year awards for projects that address specific research issues and capability As a result of these collective gaps identified and defined by the IRP projects, dozens of graduate NE R&D programs. They are intended students have now graduated and are to develop a capability within each
15 Primary Intermediate Heat Transport System Heat Transport System Primary Intermediate Steam Salt Pump Salt Pump Generator
Steam Turbine Generator
Reactor Intermediate Heat Exchanger Condenser Feedwater Heat Train Feedwater Pump
The Kairos Power FHR (KP-FHR) is a novel advanced reactor technology that leverages TRISO fuel in pebble form combined with a low-pressure fluoride salt coolant. The technology uses an efficient and flexible steam cycle to convert heat from fission into electricity and to complement renewable energy sources. specified area. These projects are • Materials testing: UW has built and opportunity. This is supported multidisciplinary and require multi- now operates systems to purify the by research at Oak Ridge institutional partners. fluoride salts required for the FHR. National Laboratory. Students used these salts in 700°C In the case of FHR, each corrosion tests to evaluate different By the end of the project, the IRP university involved had unique potential materials for the FHR. had produced four white papers features to contribute: • Thermal hydraulic tests: UCB has and more than 100 technical built large-scale thermal-hydraulic reports and papers summarizing • Materials irradiations: MIT students test loops that use an organic the three activities and associated developed, built and operated test simulant, in which students experimental work. A subsequent capsules with prototypical materials conducted experiments to provide IRP was then funded in 2014, with in 700°C salt in the MIT reactor required experimental data for University of New Mexico joining the under prototypical temperature reactor design. original partner universities. and irradiation conditions expected This 2011 IRP project provided in the FHR. Identical tests were a renewed DOE investment in All of this has helped develop a conducted outside the reactor at molten salt reactor technology, workforce for the FHR project. By UW to understand and separate which now has a dedicated work December 2018, Kairos had hired 26 out the effects of salt corrosion and researchers who had done graduate irradiation on materials. scope area in DOE’s Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research funding work on the IRP.
16 Nicolas Zweibaum, Ph.D., Manager of Engineering Testing at Kairos Power (left) and Trevor Beck, Engineering Technician operating a heat transfer test in the Rapid Lab at the Kairos Power headquarters in Alameda, California.
Meanwhile, a second FHR-focused • Gas-cooled reactors: TRISO fuel, IRP was awarded in 2014, involving structural ceramics, and high- Georgia Institute of Technology, temperature power conversion; The Ohio State University, Texas • Molten salt reactors: fluoride salt A&M University at College Station, coolant, a structural alloy and Texas A&M University at Kingsville, hydraulic components; and several other national and • Liquid metal reactors: passive decay international partners. heat removal, low-pressure design and hot refueling; “It presented them with a real interesting and advanced learning • Light water reactors: high heat experience,” said Regis Matzie, a capacity coolant and transparent retired Westinghouse chief technical coolant; and officer who chaired the original IRP • Advanced coal plants: a advisory panel. As they explored supercritical water-power cycle the FHR concept, they came to the and structural alloys. conclusion that it took the best aspects from several forms of power generation. For example:
17 Joel Hughes, a former DOE-NE IUP Fellow at University of New Mexico and current Kairos Power employee, preps an experiment at Kairos Headquarters in Alameda, California.
FHRs afford lower power costs (due on the regulatory aspects of getting The data collected in experiments to a low-pressure primary system an FHR licensed by the U.S. Nuclear done decades before and enabling functional containment) Regulatory Commission. In fact, the advancements in current reactor and thermal efficiency at least 12 first series of workshops was aimed at technology, along with the NEUP percent higher than light water addressing the best way to go about funding, have provided a unique reactors (due to high temperature licensing this technology. As a result, story and a prime moment delivery of heat). Also, with low water Kairos has leapfrogged to newer to commercialize remarkable consumption and no need for a grid safety codes developed by DOE. technology that potentially offers a connection for process heat, they viable energy solution. seem to be more easily siteable. “If we had not done that work in advance, it would have been a In addition to the technical aspects much more daunting prospect,” of the project, a significant amount Peterson said. “It is remarkable, the of the IRP work has been focused quality of the work and how much has been documented.”
18 Kairos Power Continues Partnership with DOE-NE on Reactor Development
Kairos Power was recently awarded National Laboratory and two project partnerships through Los Alamos National Laboratory. DOE-NE’s U.S. Industry Opportunities They will develop modeling tools for Advanced Reactor Development that will be useful to both Kairos funding opportunity, which funds Power and other molten salt and advanced reactor technology that will fluoride high-temperature reactor be deployed in the mid- to late-2020s. development programs. Two projects, totaling over $11 million • Technology Pre-application ($5.5 million in DOE funds, $5.8 million Licensing Report on the in Kairos Power cost share), will support Development of a Mechanistic development and licensing activities to Source Term Methodology for accelerate development of the Kairos the KP-FHR. Power FHR (KP-FHR). This project will develop a • Development of Modeling and mechanistic source term for the KP- Simulation Pathways to Accelerate FHR design, including consideration KP-FHR Licensing of radionuclides generated and transported in the fuel particle and This project advances the schedule the barriers to release for licensing in critical advanced modeling and basis event analyses. simulation capabilities needed for the FHR’s license application. The team consists of NEAMS developers at Idaho National Laboratory, Argonne
19 Infrastructure
Through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP), NE integrates university-led innovation into its technical missions by way of a competitive grant process. Estab- lished in 2009, NEUP funds two types of grants: Research and Development (R&D) and Infrastructure. Infrastructure grants have been integral in strengthening the nu- clear energy research capabilities of universities across the country.
This support is often in the form of laboratory equipment. DOE funds two types of NEUP Infrastructure grants: General Scientific Infrastructure (GSI) support and research reactor upgrades. The typical amount awarded by the government for a GSI grant is $250,000 (may include cost match). Universities can receive up to $1.5 million for reactor upgrades.
To date, the Department of Energy (DOE) has funded 234 Infrastructure grants at 60 institutions at a value of more than $61 million. Split between two focus areas, GSI and Reactor Upgrades, DOE has funded projects such as a nuclear power plant simulator at The Ohio State University and the replacement of cooling system components at Oregon State University’s TRIGA reactor. All 25 university research reactors in the United States have been supported through NE Infrastructure grants,
Melinda Krahenbuhl is a recipient of two Infrastructure grants to improve the reliability and enhance the research capabilities of the Reed Research Reactor. The Reed Research Reactor, established in 1968, is the only reactor operated primarily by undergraduates. Photo by Leah Nash, courtesy of Reed College. 20 $61,346,210* in NEUP infrastructure grants since 2009
General Scienti c Infrastructure 150 58 awards di erent universities
Reactor 84 24 Upgrade awards universities (out of 24 eligible institutions)
boosting universities’ capabilities another program housed under NE, for cutting-edge research and for offers free access to NSUF facilities educating the next generation of the found at universities and national nuclear workforce. laboratories around the world. Through NSUF’s separate competitive peer- Infrastructure upgrades often develop reviewed processes, researchers can or strengthen a unique capability gain access to NSUF facilities for zero beneficial to researchers from more cost. These include the partner facilities than just the university at which the found at universities enhanced through capability resides. Historically managed NEUP grants. by NEUP, the Infrastructure grant process now resides with the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF). NSUF,
* $64,649,176 including 7 NEET national laboratory infrastructure projects (2014-2016)
21 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT PULSTAR Reactor – a Research Reactor for the 21st Century by Kate Meehan for DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program
The conduct of irradiation tests in North Carolina State University’s PULSTAR reactor pool in support of the Nuclear Reactor Program.
The tree-lined, red brick campus Over the past decade, the Nuclear university support under one of North Carolina State University Reactor Program (NRP) at NC program. NEUP funds nuclear houses an unlikely facility: a PULSTAR State has received substantial energy research and equipment reactor, the only reactor of its type infrastructure investments from upgrades at U.S. colleges and still in operation. This unique reactor the Department of Energy’s (DOE) universities and provides students operates at a steady state power Nuclear Energy University Program with educational support. of 1MW. The reactor provides the (NEUP), as well as from other opportunity for researchers from agencies, allowing for a significantly NC State has been awarded 10 around the world to conduct a wide increased research capability. DOE’s NEUP grants for research reactor variety of experiments, thanks to its Office of Nuclear Energy created and infrastructure improvements intense source of neutrons. NEUP in 2009 to consolidate its totaling over $4 million. These grants
22 have allowed the NRP to add state- at NC State in 2002. At the time, the predecessor of NEUP. This of-the-art equipment, including PULSTAR reactor was an aging artifact program aimed to set up university two facilities that are the only ones that had been operating for 30 years reactors as effective tools of science of their kinds in the United States with little change. and education. – an intense positron beam and an ultra-cold neutron source. These “We were not equipped, from Thanks to the ongoing cycle of grant grants have also funded upgraded the perspective of operational funding from NEUP, Hawari has seen power of the PULSTAR reactor, the infrastructure or technical and the PULSTAR become a sought-after, establishment of a hot cell scientific infrastructure, to fulfill well-used modern reactor. capability, new reactor control mission objectives as a research console instrumentation and reactor,” said Hawari. DOUBLING POWER monitoring equipment, and other One of the first NEUP grants that improvements that allow for greater Hawari spearheaded a campaign NC State received for the PULSTAR research capabilities. to upgrade the reactor to meet the was also its largest: $1.4 million to needs of 21st-century scientists. The double the reactor’s operating power Dr. Ayman Hawari, distinguished NRP initially received funding from from 1 MW to 2 MW. This funding professor of nuclear engineering and Innovations in Nuclear Infrastructure allowed the NRP to refurbish the director of the NRP, began working and Education (INIE) – the
23 whole reactor with new equipment, including the primary and secondary cooling systems.
“This almost gave us a brand-new reactor,” said Hawari. “Only the core is not brand new.”
NC State received the funding in 2010 and has gone through an extensive process to prepare the reactor for this power upgrade. The initial phase required the university to work with vendors, complete a safety analysis, and evaluate the core and the effect on fuel needs. The second and final phase is now nearing completion and will result in a license for the PULSTAR to operate at the new 2 MW power level.
Hawari gives two reasons for wanting to double the reactor’s power: first, the increased power will enable more utilization opportunities for years to come; second, doubling the power means doubling the efficiency of neutron creation.
“We will double what we used to do in one day,” explains Hawari. A neutron image of jet turbine airfoils acquired using the PULSTAR reactor’s Neutron Imaging Facility.
One obstacle emerged during this enriched to 4%. The NRP received time allowed by the available fuel to power upgrade: the constant need funding from DOE to ship the pins nearly 5 more years, leaving the NRP for fuel. This is not a new issue, but from Buffalo to North Carolina, and in search of yet another fuel source it is one that becomes more urgent a license was obtained to feed the for the future. as the power upgrade comes online. reactor a mix of 4% and 6% enriched A more powerful reactor is a hungrier fuel. For a modest amount of money, INTENSE POSITRON SOURCE reactor, consuming more fuel during this process gave NC State a large One of the most extraordinary its daily operations. infusion of fuel. That fuel has now facilities in the PULSTAR reactor is been feeding the reactor for about its Intense Positron Source (IPS), The search for fuel led NRP to Buffalo, two years. NY. The University at Buffalo has a which has been supported by multiple grants. The IPS creates large decommissioned PULSTAR reactor, Hawari estimates that at current numbers of positrons, which are the the only other reactor of this type usage rates, the PULSTAR has enough antiparticle of electrons; they have ever built. The pin-type fuel for these fuel to run for another 8-10 years. the same properties as electrons PULSTAR reactors is unique; the However, with the coming power but with a positive charge instead of reactor in Buffalo uses fuel enriched upgrade, this will lessen the run to 6%, whereas NC State uses fuel
24 negative. Positrons are useful for their positive and negative “images” of the Hawari described how users come to ability to identify defects in materials same material, which is like having the PULSTAR reactor through NSUF at sizes as small as a single atom. both a photograph and its negative. programs and then keep returning for further experiments. During his time The IPS is a unique facility in the MOVING FORWARD at NC State, Hawari has seen annual United States that Hawari describes user hours increase by an order of The PULSTAR reactor has benefited as “a world-class user facility,” magnitude, from around 800-1,000 tremendously from its funding attracting researchers from all over user hours in 2002 to 10,000 today. from NEUP, which has allowed for the world. He expects the popularity of the the construction of the facilities reactor to further increase as it keeps described above, as well as additional growing and improving. NEUTRON DIFFRACTION capacities like the ultra-cold neutron AND IMAGING source and the coming addition of a In the next year or two, Hawari Multiple facilities at the PULSTAR hot cell capability. expects the reactor to receive its reactor allow researchers to perform license to operate at 2 MW, add nondestructive examination “I feel that infrastructure funding a hot cell capability (allowing for techniques. The Neutron Powder is key to our success,” said Hawari. isotope production) as well as a fuel Diffraction and Neutron Imaging “It has allowed us to adapt with the testing facility, and increase material Facilities direct the neutrons times to ensure this nuclear facility characterization capabilities. The produced by the PULSTAR reactor is a tool of 21st-century science and productive relationship among NC toward an object in order to form education.” State, NEUP and NSUF will continue an image or a diffraction pattern for to enhance this world-class reactor. that object. This capability has been Over the past decade, with the supported by NEUP, particularly by support of NEUP Infrastructure Related NEUP Projects: a 2012 grant that established high- grants, the NC State Nuclear Reactor Infrastructure Reactor Upgrades: 10- resolution digital neutron imaging Program has also become a partner 9971, 12-9830, 13-6063, 16-10958, and using a digital image plate system. institution of the Nuclear Science 18-18471. This capability is currently evolving User Facilities (NSUF). to support dynamic imaging and Release Date: December 2019 capture phenomena in motion. “This allows us to tap into the A neutron image of jet turbine airfoils acquired using the PULSTAR reactor’s Neutron Imaging Facility. reservoir of users NSUF created,” These neutron facilities provide a explained Hawari. “NSUF has been complementary function to the IPS. great to us.” Testing materials both ways produces
“I feel that infrastructure funding is key to our success,” said Hawari. “It has allowed us to adapt with the times to ensure this nuclear facility is a tool of 21st-century science and education.”
25 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT University Infrastructure Upgrades: Bolstering Nuclear Energy for the Nation by Tiffany Adams for DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program
Student uses the micro-materials nanoindenter in the University of California, Berkeley’s Nuclear Materials Laboratory.
University of California, NML. This laboratory was the first to Items like a high temperature furnace Berkeley start small-scale mechanical testing (<1200°C) for the existing MTS criterion on nuclear materials. Now an NSUF model 43 tensile test frame with a For the Nuclear Materials Laboratory partner facility, the NML can be used maximum load capacity of 30kN. The (NML) at University of California, by researchers from across the country, temperatures covered include a range Berkeley (UCB), Infrastructure grants free of charge. “NSUF is a cornerstone important for LWR accident scenarios have been critical to development for the nation’s nuclear infrastructure and important for advanced reactor and success. “Without this funding and is essential to research and concepts like high-temperature agency, there would be no way to training in the area of nuclear energy,” gas reactors. The Bruker PI88 insitu provide state-of-the-art infrastructure Hosemann said. nanoindenter capable of measuring for research and teaching,” said Peter mechanical properties up to 800°C at Hosemann, professor and chair of the Of the NML’s many capabilities, NEUP the nano scale probing properties of Department of Nuclear Engineering. funds were used to acquire items to protective coatings for ATF concepts To date, UCB has received five perform mechanical testing from or sampling highly irradiated and Infrastructure grants for approximately nanometer to centimeter from -140°C to radioactive materials. $1.26 million, much of which has been +800°C on irradiated and unirradiated used to establish and enhance the materials in different environments. 26 Texas A&M Thermal-Hydraulic 14,000-square-foot laboratory with a NEUP Infrastructure grants in 2009 and Research Laboratory variety of thermal hydraulic setups, 2010 bolstered the laboratory with including flow visualization loops and new flow measurement equipment NEUP Infrastructure grants and state-of-the-art instrumentation for to support a state-of-the-art three- research awards have been flow measurements. The work focuses dimensional particle image velocimetry instrumental in developing Texas A&M’s on single- and two-phase flow and (PIV) measurement technique using Thermal Hydraulic Research Laboratory. multiphase flow phenomena in light tomographic PIV. PIV was used The laboratory, hosted at the Texas water reactors, advanced reactors and successfully in three funded 2009 NEUP Engineering Experiment Station, is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. projects focused on different thermal
Texas A&M’s advanced high-temperature reactor (AHTR) concept leverages a particle- The Texas A&M experiment is using the largest transparent test fuel assembly of its based fuel format consisting of discrete spherical graphite pebbles arrayed in a packed kind to date. In the facility, measurements of hydraulic parameters and validation of bed architecture. Thermal regulation achieved via flow of gas (e.g., helium) or liquid computational tools are done, just like in reactor testing and design. (e.g., molten salt) coolants through the void spaces between pebbles in the bed (characteristic pebble diameters: ~ 6 cm, gas cooled; ~ 3 cm, liquid cooled).
27 hydraulic measurements associated “The lab continues to support Recently, the laboratory collaborated with high-temperature gas-cooled impactful work on university, industry with South Texas Project (STP), reactors and very-high-temperature and national laboratory projects.” utilizing the laboratory-developed reactors. The Infrastructure grant, measurement techniques in resolving along with the experimental setups Various projects funded through the Generic Safety Issue (GSI-191), established by these three projects, NEUP have used these facilities and which has been the subject of provided the foundation for verification capabilities, including seven NEUP enormous efforts within the industry and validation of thermal hydraulic projects at Texas A&M. The projects for more than 20 years. The GSI-191 phenomena in HTGRs, which is still have focused on wire-wrapped fuel issue is based on a loss-of-coolant ongoing today. assemblies, water-based reactor cavity scenario in a nuclear reactor, which cooling systems, plenum mixing, can generate debris and potentially “The initial $100,000 investment in flow pebble bed thermal hydraulics and air affect the performance of the safety measurement equipment has resulted ingress accidents in high-temperature system. This project was completed in additional investment by DOE-NE gas-cooled reactors. successfully and saved the pilot STP and industry,” said Dr. Yassin Hassan, power plant approximately $43 million. the lab’s technical lead.
PIV, laser-doppler velocimetry (LDV) and distributed temperature sensor (DTS) measurement techniques are being applied.
28 Purdue University DOE’s Infrastructure grant gave new life to Purdue University’s research reactor. “We had reached a point with our equipment where we had more downtime than uptime,” said Robert Bean, director of Radiation Laboratories. Completed in 1962, the instrumentation and control systems were all original, making quality replacement parts nearly impossible to find. Bean explained that, unlike a commercial reactor, test reactors PUR-1’s first-of-a-kind all-digital instrumentation and control systems upgrade. don’t have duplicate systems, so if the system must be paused for repairs, all research stops.
Using their $1.2 million in funding beginning in 2012, Purdue upgraded their reactor control systems and reactor safety system from analog to digital. From alarm beacons to fission chamber detectors, the reactor systems were completely overhauled. “It was effectively everything,” Bean said. Purdue has just been granted license approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They hope to become an NSUF partner facility, filling the void for a facility that can be used as a proof-of- concept testing ground. “It is a smaller facility, and the power level will allow more flexibility for researchers to verify their idea, that their equipment works and that their students know how to gather data,” Bean said. “They can demonstrate their ideas for less.” Clive Townsend, PUR-1 Reactor Supervisor (front left in black shirt), leads high school students on a tour of the facility.
29 Student Support
The Office of Nuclear Energy’s (NE) Integrated University Program (IUP) funds undergraduate scholarship and graduate fellowships as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) ongoing commitment to educating the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers. NEUP research projects also support research roles for students ranging from undergraduates to post-doctoral researchers.
Graduate Fellowships: $161,000 over 3 years Applicants must be: • U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents • Entering their first or second year of overall graduate study • Enrolled in an IUP-accepted college or university • Studying nuclear science or engineering, or a related field • A student with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher at both the undergraduate and graduate levels
Undergraduate Scholarships: $7,500, 1-year Applicants must be: • U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents • At least a sophomore in college when the award begins • Enrolled in an IUP-accepted college or university
Sarah Stevenson, two-time IUP Scholar out of Kansas State University and current IUP Fellow, is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Photo by John La Barge.
30 2,133 772 NEUP Supported IUP Scholarship & Students Fellowship Recipients
720 696 451 266 276 496 h. . Masters Undergrad ost docs ellows Scholars
Of all uclear ngineering h s were supported with 50% O IU or U funds from 2010 201
• Studying nuclear science or 339 master’s and 127 undergraduate The vast majority of IUP Fellows have engineering, or a related field students. IUP supported 162 nuclear gone on to start their own companies, • A student with a cumulative GPA of engineering graduate degrees. work in industry, become faculty 3.25 or higher Undergraduate data for the IUP members at distinguished universities program is currently unavailable. or researchers at national laboratories. IUP and NEUP have supported more According to a 2018 Oak Ridge Institute Students funded by NEUP on research than 2,400 undergraduate and for Science and Education report, and development (R&D) projects are graduate level students in obtaining 1,334 Ph.D.’s were awarded by nuclear not tracked past graduation, but many science, technology, engineering or engineering programs in the United of these students are active in the math (STEM) degrees. States1,2 between 2010 and 2018. nuclear academic, national laboratory DOE-NE has directly supported more and industry communities. Of those students pursuing nuclear than 50% of nuclear engineering Ph.D. engineering degrees between 2011- degrees obtained in the United States. 2018, NEUP supported 331 Ph.D.,
31 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT Colby Jensen: IUP Fellow Pays It Forward by Kate Meehan for DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program
there made a strong impression on him. Jensen went on to graduate as valedictorian of the USU College of Engineering and decided to stay at the university to pursue an advanced degree and continue his research on thermal conductivity in Ban’s lab.
The project that first brought Jensen to INL eventually became the focus of his master’s thesis: “TRISO Fuel Compact Thermal Conductivity Measurement Instrument Development.” After completing his master’s, Jensen received a fellowship from the Department of Energy’s Integrated University Program (IUP) to continue his graduate work. Jensen stayed at USU and continued working with Ban, studying ion irradiation on thermal transport in zirconium carbide.
Colby Jensen, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) research scientist and former Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) Jensen credits both Ban and the Integrated University Program (IUP) Fellow. IUP fellowship for making his research path possible. Ban provided Dr. Colby Jensen grew up on a farm was a logical choice, though he had no mentorship which, according to outside the small town of Preston, particular career in mind. While at USU, Jensen, “...makes all the difference Idaho, physically close to Idaho National Jensen took a class with Dr. Heng Ban, a in the world.” The IUP Fellowship Laboratory (INL) and yet a world apart professor of mechanical and aerospace made the Ph.D. financially viable for in many ways. He had no ambition to engineering and founding director of Jensen, providing support so he could one day work as a researcher at the lab; the Center for Thermohydraulics and continue to focus on his research. in fact, he had little knowledge of the Material Properties. Ban saw potential lab despite living just a few hours away. in Jensen and took him under his While working on his Ph.D., Jensen But after going away for college and wing, beginning a strong mentoring actively sought out opportunities eventually earning his Ph.D., Jensen relationship that Jensen highly values. and pursued everything available to realized that INL was exactly where he him. This mindset led him to France, wanted to work. Ban brought Jensen with him on a visit where he spent a year researching, to INL in 2008, while Jensen was still pioneering a joint Ph.D. in energy Jensen began his career as an finishing his bachelor’s degree, to work engineering from the Université de undergraduate studying mechanical on a direct-funded Next Generation Reims Champagne-Ardenne and engineering at Utah State University Nuclear Plant project. This was Jensen’s mechanical engineering from USU. (USU). He had always found that math first visit to the lab, and the quality His dissertation was titled “Bridging came naturally to him, so engineering of interesting research being done the Nano and Macro Worlds: Thermal
32 Property Measurement using Scanning materials. Its unique design offers excellent mentorship. As a leader Thermal Microscopy and Photothermal real-time monitoring of the fuel’s or himself now, Jensen emphasizes Radiometry – Application to Particle- material’s behavior under postulated that “mentorship is key.” He has Irradiation Damage Profile in ZrC.” reactor accident conditions, allowing made providing that leadership to scientists to determine the appropriate younger scientists one of his main After he completed graduate school, safe limits for the fuels and materials in responsibilities. Jensen’s efforts in this Jensen was drawn back to INL. He nuclear power reactors. capacity have been recognized by his initially considered careers in academia coworkers, as he won the 2018 INL or at other national labs but says he As part of his current role, Jensen has a Mentor of the Year Award. realized that “the opportunity I was lot of direct involvement as a technical looking for was here.” From 2014 point of contact and collaborator with Jensen complimented the teams he to 2016 he worked as a thermal other researchers who are coming to works with at INL and the researchers analyst for experimental safety and use the facility. Many of them work who visit the lab from all over the world. performance evaluations at the under awards received from DOE’s Jensen puts great value on working with Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) and Nuclear Energy University Program dedicated people, and he advises his Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility. (NEUP). One of these researchers, in interns and young colleagues to always He then became the separate effects fact, is Heng Ban. Ban currently holds prioritize the team they are working testing lead for irradiation experiments an award for an Integrated Research with rather than the technical aspects in the Fuel Performance and Design Project (IRP) conducting experiments when choosing a project. Department. In his present position, at TREAT, with Jensen as one of his Jensen is deputy technical lead for collaborators on a portion of the project Throughout his career, Jensen has development of advanced reactor studying transient boiling behavior. In “focused on what needs to be done” fuels. He leads in-pile instrumentation this way, Jensen has come full circle, even when it has led him in unexpected development for transient irradiation from an undergraduate just learning directions. He has always looked for testing, leads development of in-pile about nuclear energy to a subject- opportunities and taken leaps of faith, thermal properties measurement and matter expert advising experienced from his initial decision to pursue a is a principal investigator for transient researchers, including his own mentor. Ph.D. (thanks to his IUP Fellowship) to testing of light water reactor and earning a joint degree between French advanced reactor fuels. When asked about his greatest and American universities to his current successes, Jensen repeatedly returned testing work in TREAT. According to Jensen has been involved in designing to the importance of teamwork, Jensen, forging new paths is not always some of the first experiments in the collaboration and mentorship. He easy, but it is certainly interesting. reopened TREAT Facility, which provides credits Ban in particular with providing transient testing of nuclear fuels and
As a leader himself now, Jensen emphasizes that “mentorship is key.” He has made providing that leadership to younger scientists one of his main responsibilities.
33 November 2019 19-50456-R6