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Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
Carnegie Mellon will combine its expertise in additive manufacturing (AM) with Westinghouse’s knowhow in nuclear reactor component fabrication to develop an innovative process for AM of nuclear components. The team chose to redesign nuclear reactor spacer grids as a test case because they are a particularly difficult component to manufacture. The role of spacer grids is to provide mechanical support to nuclear fuel rods within a reactor and reduce vibration as well as cause mixing of the cooling fluid.
… 1000000 … To compete with other energy sources, next-generation nuclear plants need to incorporate much lower construction capital costs and shorter construction … savings in fabricating next generation reactor components and replacement parts for legacy nuclear systems. … AM can substantially disrupt the nuclear vs. fossil fuel competitive landscape by reducing the cost of nuclear reactor components …
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and other national laboratories and universities will develop a transformational technology for LLFP transmutation using energetic photons and protons. For instance, long-lived isotope I-129 (half-life of 15.7 million years) can be transmuted to short-lived isotope I-128 (half-life of 25 minutes). A high transmutation performance can be achieved by multiple transmutations in the arrangement of the LLFP target surrounded by an LLFP blanket.
… 3000000 … The U.S. has more than 86,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel (UNF) to date and generates approximately 2,000 metric tons of UNF per year from … proposed technology can contribute to expanding a commercially proven dispatchable zero-carbon nuclear energy to the future clean energy market. … 0 … The proposed LLFP transmutation technology could substantially reduce disposal impacts of nuclear waste. … Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and other national laboratories and …
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
NETL seeks to produce a novel fiber-optic sensor system for monitoring advanced nuclear reactors that will permit operators to view conditions inside molten-salt cooling loops and inside reactor cores simultaneously and in real-time. This high level of data visibility will enable advanced automation in new reactor systems, and enable design engineers to accelerate the deployment of new reactor designs for commercial use.
… 2027488 … This topic would leverage innovations supporting nuclear energy for the development of technologies that will reduce the cost of nuclear energy. These projects seek to develop advancements in nuclear facility sensors, tools, analytics and controls. The next generation of nuclear reactor …
Brigham Young University (BYU)
Brigham Young University (BYU) will apply two-step chloride volatility (TSCV) to co-extract uranium (U) and transuranics (TRU) in a solventless, gas-solid separation scheme to reduce waste volumes and repository footprint by 10x. The BYU team will reduce risks and uncertainty of the TSCV process by quantifying the volatility of U/TRU chlorides in simulated UNF mixtures, optimizing process parameters for U/TRU extraction, and demonstrating TSCV up to a one-kilogram batch size.
… 900217 … The next generation of advanced nuclear reactors (ARs) is currently being developed to enhance the safety, reduce the cost, and increase the efficiency of nuclear power generation, which is important to meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emission goals. Challenges associated with disposal pathways of waste, such as used nuclear fuel (UNF), however, threaten AR development and deployment. ONWARDS seeks to develop and …
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
LBNL will use advanced microfabrication technology to build and scale low-cost, compact, higher-power multi-beam ion accelerators. These accelerators will be able to increase the ion current up to 100 times, helping to enable a new learning curve for compact accelerator technology. MEMS (micro-electro mechanical systems) technology enables massively parallel, low-cost batch fabrication of ion beam accelerators. The team proposes to scale ion accelerators based on MEMS to higher beam power and pack hundreds to thousands of ion beamlets on silicon wafers.
… There is also interest in applying ion-beam implantation to help improve accident-tolerant nuclear fuel cladding to make it resilient to corrosion and radiation effects. A compact ion … flexible, and scalable ion accelerators could enable the rapid development of advanced nuclear energy materials and new applications in manufacturing. … The technology will enable transformative new approaches to generate clean electricity through nuclear fission and fusion. … 0 … The concept could potentially positively improve the energy …
University of North Texas (UNT)
The University of North Texas (UNT), University of Michigan, Northeastern University, General Electric Research Center, and Idaho National Laboratory are researching a novel self-powered wireless differential pressure sensor for long-term, in situ, real-time monitoring of high-temperature (600 ºC) molten salt density and level for safeguarding and monitoring electrochemical processing of nuclear spent fuel. The team will use micro-electromechanical systems technology to fabricate the pressure sensor which enables measurements of great sensitivity, accuracy and high repeatability.
… 2711342 … The U.S. has accumulated approximately 86,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel (UNF) from light-water reactors (LWRs), a value that increases by approximately … AR fuels, and maintain disposal costs in the range of 0.1¢/kWh. … Complement ARPA-E’s existing nuclear energy research portfolio, further ensuring the commercial viability of innovative new … molten salt density and level for safeguarding and monitoring electrochemical processing of nuclear spent fuel. The team will use micro-electromechanical systems technology to fabricate the …
University of Colorado, Boulder (CU-Boulder)
The University of Colorado, Boulder (CU-Boulder), will advance high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy using cryogenic microcalorimeter arrays, which are an emerging tool for improved nuclear material accountancy. Microcalorimeter spectrometers measure gamma-ray energy much more precisely than other gamma-ray detectors, allowing them to resolve closely spaced gamma-ray lines such as those produced by plutonium isotopes near 100 keV, and detect lines that appear only weakly above background.
… 1994663 … The U.S. has accumulated approximately 86,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel (UNF) from light-water reactors (LWRs), a value that increases by approximately … AR fuels, and maintain disposal costs in the range of 0.1¢/kWh. … Complement ARPA-E’s existing nuclear energy research portfolio, further ensuring the commercial viability of innovative new … spectroscopy using cryogenic microcalorimeter arrays, which are an emerging tool for improved nuclear material accountancy. Microcalorimeter spectrometers measure gamma-ray energy much more …
General Electric (GE) Global Research
Advanced reactors must be designed to be financially competitive with fossil fuel power plants to gain a foothold in future energy markets. The GE Research team aims to reduce operations and maintenance (O&M) costs by moving from a time- to condition-based predictive maintenance framework, using GE Hitachi's BWRX-300 boiling water reactor as the reference design. GE will develop operational, health, and decision predictive maintenance digital twins (PMDTs) to enable continuous monitoring, early warning, diagnostics, and prognostics for the reactor systems.
… 5412810 … Although nuclear power is one pathway to achieving a zero-carbon grid, nuclear power plants are comparatively cost-intensive in some markets. Many industries are … O&M in their processes. O&M is approximately 80% of a reactor’s total generating cost. The nuclear energy industry has not fully explored these innovations, necessitating new designs of …
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Los Alamos National Laboratory will develop a scalable, compact, high-temperature, heat pipe reactor (HPR) to provide heat and electricity to remote areas. A 15MWth HPR could be built on-site in less than a month and self-regulate its power to plug into microgrids. The team will use high temperature materials via advanced manufacturing to reduce costs, and further cost reduction will be achieved from novel sensors embedded in the reactor core for continuous monitoring, reducing the number of operational staff needed.
… 4420064 … Today’s commercial nuclear industry is based on technologies developed in the 1950s and 60s, with no significant … to stay competitive with reductions in the price of natural gas and renewables. For example, nuclear plants still tend to have complicated designs, uncertain construction timelines, high … block, which considerably reduces fabrication and installation costs and improves safety. … Nuclear power has low life-cycle emissions, making it a key source of clean electricity. … 0 … …
Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) will design, fabricate, and test robust anode materials for recovering actinide elements from used LWR fuels through a molten salt electrochemical process. Current anode materials, which are typically fabricated from either platinum or graphite, are expensive, degrade rapidly, contaminate the reduced actinide product, and generate greenhouse gases when used to manufacture metallic products.
… 1564150 … The U.S. has accumulated approximately 86,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel (UNF) from light-water reactors (LWRs), a value that increases by approximately … AR fuels, and maintain disposal costs in the range of 0.1¢/kWh. … Complement ARPA-E’s existing nuclear energy research portfolio, further ensuring the commercial viability of innovative new … and cost-effective anode materials for not only recovering actinide elements from used oxide nuclear fuels without isolating pure plutonium but also for converting metal oxides to metals and …
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University will develop a new class of materials called high-entropy glass-ceramics that could store more nuclear waste by percent weight than industry-standard glasses. The novel materials could significantly lower the infrastructure cost of nuclear waste disposal deep underground by reducing the volume of deep earth that must be excavated for every kilogram of waste.
… will develop a new class of materials called high-entropy glass-ceramics that could store more nuclear waste by percent weight than industry-standard glasses. The novel materials could significantly lower the infrastructure cost of nuclear waste disposal deep underground by reducing the volume of deep earth that must be … Ledoux … corey.oses@jhu.edu … MD … ACTIVE … http://jhu.edu … High-Entropy Glass-Ceramics for Nuclear Waste Immobilization …
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will research a single-step technology to recycle UNF by recovering the bulk of uranium (U) and other transuranics (TRU) from fission products. After dissolution of UNF in nitric acid, U/TRU is simultaneously separated from fission products by co-crystallizing oxidized TRU with uranyl nitrate hexahydrate. The approach is inherently proliferation resistant, as plutonium-only streams cannot be achieved without implementing additional technologies.
… 1844988 … The U.S. has accumulated approximately 86,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel (UNF) from light-water reactors (LWRs), a value that increases by approximately … AR fuels, and maintain disposal costs in the range of 0.1¢/kWh. … Complement ARPA-E’s existing nuclear energy research portfolio, further ensuring the commercial viability of innovative new … … Group Hexavalent Actinide Separation: A Single-Step, Proliferation Resistant Approach to Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing …
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University will develop accurate materials fabrication, characterization, and analysis to attempt to resolve the physical understanding of Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR). Texas Tech will also provide advanced detection of nuclear reaction products as a resource for ARPA-E LENR Exploratory Topic teams.
… characterization, and analysis to attempt to resolve the physical understanding of Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR). Texas Tech will also provide advanced detection of nuclear reaction products as a resource for ARPA-E LENR Exploratory Topic teams. … … Lubbock … … … TX … ACTIVE … https://www.ttu.edu/ … Advanced Materials Characterization and Nuclear Product Detection for LENR …
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) team proposes to probe for LENR at external excitation energies below 500 eV, systematically varying materials and conditions while monitoring nuclear event rates with a suite of diagnostics. The team will draw from knowledge based on previous work using higher energy ion beams as an external excitation source for LENR on metal hydrides electrochemically loaded with deuterium.
… energies below 500 eV, systematically varying materials and conditions while monitoring nuclear event rates with a suite of diagnostics. The team will draw from knowledge based on … … Dr. Robert Ledoux … t_schenkel@lbl.gov … CA … ACTIVE … https://www.lbl.gov/ … Quantifying Nuclear Reactions in Metal Hydrides at Low Energies …