Award Data

In a catastrophic event, much of the electrical infrastructure can be damaged, even destroyed. The US Power Grid is a critical infrastructure and a catastrophic failure would result in huge humanitarian and economic loss. In addition, a widespread power outage would affect the readiness and response capabilities of various security agencies including Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Local P ...

The feasibility for fusion as a practical energy source needs to be enhanced significantly by removing some of the restrictions that low-temperature superconductors put on the fusion magnet systems. This can be done by using high-temperature superconductors, allowing for much larger temperature margins, a higher magnet performance and less mechanical degradation during operation. There are curren ...

Bright coherent light sources in the soft x-ray region of the spectrum are useful for a variety of applications of interest to DOE in the basic sciences, nanoscience and biology, and for technological applications. At Free-Electron Laser Facilities, peak power output of the x-ray pulses is enhanced by using a mid-infrared laser pulse instead of a near-infrared pulse. The current front end for mid- ...

The cost of dewatering particles is inversely proportional to particle size. Costs dramatically increase as particle size approaches 10

There is significant opportunity for energy efficiency improvements in the industrial and manufacturing sectors in the U.S., both from the production and consumption perspective. Higher energy density battery materials will play a role in both, through improved storage of electricity from renewable sources, the enabling of electric vehicles, and through the development of longer lasting, higher po ...

Corrosion induced degradation of material components in the harsh environment of light water reactor can impact reactor reliability, availability, safe operation and eventually life. A possible remedy could be to replace the replaceable components at appropriate moments which may not be economically favorable. Thus there is a need to develop technologies to repair degraded materials. STATEMENT OF ...

Most digital systems being software intensive are also vulnerable to attacks that exploit software weaknesses. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, “exploiting weaknesses in digital technology could be the most attractive route for those terrorists seeking to attack nuclear facilities without fear of interdiction.” Recent publicized events about cyber-attack on critical infrast ...

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis is industrially important as a green source of high purity hydrogen, for chemical applications as well as energy storage. However, the energy required to manufacture these units is still high, due to the multi-step processes employed. Today, the majority of cost and energy use in PEM electrolyzer manufacturing is contributed by the cell stack manufacturi ...

Novel electron gun features are required to enhance the peak and/or average beam brightness by reducing the emittances of electron bunches while allowing the guns to operate at a high repetition rate using laser excitation of the photocathode. The generation of surface acoustical waves (SAWs) on piezoelectric substrates is known to produce strong piezoelectric fields that propagate on the surface ...

Development of a solid with high conductivity of Mg2+ cations will allow application of that substance as membrane in magnesium-air batteries. These batteries will be much cheaper, safer, and at the same time store much more energy than lead-, lithium- or sodium batteries with the same weight. Such batteries would be ideal for electric vehicles and for the off-peak storage of renewable elect ...