Award Data

This Phase I project will develop a multianalyte biosensor field screening instrument (MBFI). The MBFI has the potential to reduce the annual cost of environmental analyses in the United States by more than $20 million and to reduce the analysis turnaround time from approximately 19 days to less than 15 minutes. The major barrier to the development of a biosensor instrument for environmental mea ...

Measuring individual exposure in real-time can revolutionize air quality monitoring in communities everywhere. Such information would allow citizens to take preventive measures to reduce their exposures to air toxics, which would impact their health and quality of life tremendously. Mobile devices such as smart-phones and tablets represent a powerful infrastructure that could be leveraged to devel ...

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AT MULTI-UNIT NUCLEAR GENRATING STATIONS, CONTROL ROOM OPERATORS ARE GENERALLY LICENSED TO OPERATE ALL SIMILAR UNITS. SIMULATOR TRAINING CONDUCTED AT THE LICENSEE TRAINING FACILITY OCCURS ON ONE SIMULATOR WHICH MAY NOT EXACTLY MIMIC ANY UNIT. INADEQUATE TRAINING ON UNIT-TO-UNIT AND UNIT-TO-SIMULATOR DIFFERENCES, IN CONJUNCTION WITH LIMITED PER-PERSON SIMULATOR TRAINING HOURS, CAN RESULT IN INCREAS ...

WHEN ROTATING MACHINERY DETERIORATES, VIBRTION PATTERSN CHANGE. WHEN BEARING FREQUENCIES APPEAR, THEN INCREASE IN AMPLITUDE, BEARING FAILURE LOOMS. THE SAME WITH VALVES; WHEN THEY LEAK, THEY VIBRATE. AS LEAKAGE INCREASES, THE VIBRATION PATTERN CHANGES. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS. THE KEY IS KNOWING WHERE AND HOW DEEPLY TO LOOK. THE KEY IN OLDER REACTOR PLANTS IS TO UNOBTRUSIVELY, ECONOMICALLY BACKFIT S ...

CHANGES IN PLANT STATUS, EITHER BEFORE OR DURING AN ACCIDENT SEQUENC CAN CONSIDERABLY AFFECT ITS OUTCOME; BOTH THE ACTURAL OUTCOME AND THAT PREDICTED BY PROBABILISTIC RISK ASSESSMENT. IN ORDER TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE POSSIBLE ACCIDENTS AND THEIR PROBABILITIES, THE PRA MODEL MUST CONSIDER THE DYNAMIC CHARACTER OF THE PLANT, IT'S SYSTEMS AND OPERATORS. A LIVING, DYNAMIC PRA IS ONE IN WHICH ALL T ...