Award Data

In the Spallation Neutron Source, the mercury in the stainless steel target vessel experiences cavitation due to intense pressure waves produced by the almost instantaneous heating of the mercury following proton impact on the target. To protect the vessel walls from cavitation erosion, helium micro bubbles can be added to the mercury to act as attenuators of the pressure waves and to minimize ca ...

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are one of the most compelling options for meeting the growing clean energy demands of the U.S. While safer and costing less to build and operate than their conventional counterparts, the unique requirements of SMRs pose significant challenges to the maintenance of their I & amp;C systems, especially due to the likelihood of fewer process sensors. Lacking the sensor ...

The global market for bio-based chemicals is at a critical stage of development, with focus on new bio-based routes to chemicals and building the type of commercial-scale plants that will enable the market to truly compete with petroleum derived chemicals. The 2011 Frost & amp; Sullivan report identifies six market challenges associated with bio-based chemicals production: 1) price volatility; 2) ...

A light water reactor is equipped with control and shutdown rods which are inserted into and withdrawn from the reactor core to control reactivity. The positioning of the control and shutdown rods is performed in Combustion Engineering designed plants with the control element drive mechanism system, which includes a number of subsystems and components critical to safe and reliable plant operatio ...

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO (1) PROCESS LARGE NUMBERS OF CLONES THROUGH COLONY PICKING, (2) REPOSITION THECOLONIES IN LARGE RECTANGULAR ARRAYS, (3) PURIFY COLONIES BYRECLONING AS NECESSARY, (4) PROCESS THE DNA FROM EACH COLONYTO ALLOW RECOMBINANT DNAS TO BE TRANSFERRED TO NITROCELLULOSE OR OTHER FILTER MATERIALS, (5) PROBE THE ARRAYS EN MASSE WITH DNA PROBES UNDER DIFFERENT STRINGENCY COND ...

THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH THE POTENTIAL FOR RAPID RESPONSE, HIGH RESOLUTION DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF INFRARED (IR) ACTIVE POLLUTANT MOLECULES, SUCH AS S02, N0, AND N02. MINIATURE OPTICAL HEAT PIPES WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND OPTIMIZED FOR THE GENERATION OF TUNABLE IR LASER LIGHT BY MEANS OF STIMULATED ELECTRON RAMAN SCATTERING (SERS). THE HEAT PIPES WILL USE ALKALI METAL VAPORS AT PRESSURE ...

MAPPING AND SEQUENSING THE DNA IN THE HUMAN GENOME IS OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE TO FUTURE MEDICAL ADVANCES AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS. UTILIZATION OF DNA PROBES LABELED WITH DOZENS OF STABLE ISOTOPES INSTEAD OF A SINGLE RADIOISOTOPE COULD INCREASE THE RATE OF SEQUENCE DETERMINATION 100-FOLD OR MORE COMPARED TO CURRENT METHODS. THIS PROJECT INVOLVES A NEW APPROACH, LASER ATOMIZATION RESONANCE IONIZAT ...

DEMONSTRATION TESTING OF ADVANCED PROCESS EQUIPMENT IS EXPECTED TO CONFIRM THE FEASIBILITY OF THE INTEGRAL FAST REACTOR (IFR) FUEL CYCLE PROCESS AT THE HOT FUEL EXAMINATION FACILITY - SOUTH (HFEF-S) ON THE ARGONNE-WEST SITE IN IDAHO. TEST RESULTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE DESIGN OF A COMMERCIAL IFR FUEL CYCLE FACILITY. THIS PROJECT CONTRIBUTES TO DEVELOPMENT OF A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR AN ADVAN ...

REMOTE MAINTENANCE OF THE COMPACT IGNITION TOKAMAK (CIT) POSES FORMIDABLE CHALLENGES BECAUSE OF ITS INTERNAL DIMENSIONAL CONSTRAINTS, DIVERSITY OF MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS, AND GEOMETRICALLY INTRICATE ARRANGEMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICE EQUIPMENT. THESE CHALLENGES MUST BE ADDRESSED TO SUPPORT FUTURE "HOT" OPERATION OF THE PRINCETON PLASMA PHYSICS LABORATORY (PPPL) CIT. PHASE I INTRODUCES A SINGLE SOLUTI ...

New Generation IV nuclear power plants are being developed that promise to enable nuclear power to achieve its potential as a large scale source of environmentally benign power generation while improving safety and minimizing proliferation risks. These reactors will need large numbers of metallic fuel pins made from uranium alloys, but existing methods for casting these fuel pins are very costly. ...