Engineering Commons^™

Suitability Of The Kalina Cycle For Power Conversion From Pressurized Water Reactors, Jack Ryan Webster

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this work is to determine the Kalina cycle's suitability for thermal power conversion from a pressurized water reactor. Several previous papers have examined this application, but these either lack proof of concept or make unfeasible assumptions. This work expands current knowledge by simulating the Kalina cycle and comparing it to current pressurized water reactor Rankine cycles in order to identify which is more efficient. Prerequisite to the modeling is a simulation tool capable of modeling the thermodynamics of ammonia/water mixtures. Instead of using an existing program, a new one called Clearwater is used. This tool is …

Case Study On The Development Of Engineering Design Modification Projects For U.S. Nuclear Power Plants: A Knowledge Retention Tool In Support Of The Longevity And Resilience Of The Nuclear Power Industry, Pamela M. Torres-Jiménez

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The nuclear power industry in the United States (U.S.) has gone through various changes throughout its history. Most recently, plans to grow the industry through the construction of new power plants have ceased. Because of this, the industry is at a period where the longevity and resilience of existing nuclear power plants are vital to its subsistence.

One of the ways existing nuclear power plants can assure longevity and resilience is by performing engineering design modifications efficiently and at a lower cost. Strategic plans, such as the Delivering the Nuclear Promise, can support nuclear utilities to achieve this. Another strategy …

Innovative Fuel Design To Improve Proliferation Management, Taylor C. Britt

Theses and Dissertations

This research uses an existing innovative fuel design (IFD) that has intrinsic safety features and enhanced economics over the current uranium dioxide (UO₂) light water fuel design and evaluates promising methods to improve the waste management and proliferation resistance of the IFD by doping the fresh fuel with select actinides.The most robust approach for proliferation resistance is to denature these materials by adding a uranium or plutonium isotope that hampers the usability of the materials in weapons. The proposed modifications to the IFD use this approach through elevated fractions of ²³⁸Pu. ²³⁸Pu generates large quantities of …

Nestle To Origami Coupling: A Nuclear Non-Proliferation Tool For Lwr Fuel Assembly Isotope Analysis, Margaret Alva Kurtts

Doctoral Dissertations

NESTLE to ORIGAMI coupling is a versatile nuclear modeling tool that allows researchers to directly observe the impact of operator induced changes on LWR assembly isotope production. The paper presents an experimental method by which to test the ability of an operator to manipulate the core neutron spectrum in order to produce higher quality plutonium for weapons use. The paper presents two plutonium production scenarios and evaluates their feasibility based on potential for detection and production capacity. Reactor modeling of a VVER-1000 uses NESTLE core simulation software. NESTLE outputs burnup and relative power information for all nodes in the core. …

Air Bubble Curtain Anchoring, Christian J. Young, Donavan Wesley Lawrence, Dakota Catherine Schwartz

Mechanical Engineering

To prevent salp (jellyfish) from entering Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s intake pipes, and ultimately having the plant shut down as a result, an air bubble curtain is anchored along the ocean floor for the duration of the salp swarm to create a barrier that prevents the salp and other debris from entering the intake. The curtain consists of four large air compressors connected to four parallel pipes with holes strategically drilled at various places along the length of the pipe. When the air compressors are turned on, a torrent of bubbles are shot out from the pipes which create a …

Numerical Simulation Of Metallic Uranium Sintering, Bruce Berry

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Conventional ceramic oxide nuclear fuels are limited in their thermal and life-cycle properties. The desire to operate at higher burnups as is required by current utility economics has proven a formidable challenge for oxide fuel designs. Metallic formulations have superior thermal performance but are plagued by volumetric swelling due to fission gas buildup. In this study, we consider a number of specific microstructure configurations that have been experimentally shown to exhibit considerable resistance to porosity loss. Specifically, a void sizing that is bimodally distributed was shown to resist early pore loss and could provide collection sites for fission gas buildup. …

Subcritical Facility Design, Kacie Breeding

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Neutron Generator Driven Subcritical Fast Neutron Source Facility, Zachary Bingham, Duncan Brocklehurst, Will Cureton, Daniel Peffley, Colton Oldham, James Ghawaly

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Predictive Analytics Use For Policy Decision-Making Effectiveness In Turbulent Times: A Case Study Of Fukushima Nuclear Accident, Akemi T. Chatfield, Christopher Reddick

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

No abstract provided.

Development, Synthesis, And Analysis Of Surrogate Post-Detonation Nuclear Melt Glass, Andrew Vincent Giminaro

Doctoral Dissertations

With the threats facing the world today, there is an ever-increasing need for training the the fields of radiochemistry and nuclear forensics. Training and research in these fields requires reference materials that accurately represent materials that could potentially be encountered. Unfortunately, many of the historical samples of debris from nuclear weapons tests remains classified. Because of this, there is a need for realistic surrogates. This research focuses on the development of surrogates for the bulk and particulate nuclear melt glass that is expected to be found in an urban setting after a nuclear event.

A mathematical model for the creation …

The Utility Of Table-Top Exercises In Teaching Nuclear Security, Christopher Hobbs, Luca Lentini, Matthew Moran

International Journal of Nuclear Security

In the emerging field of nuclear security, those responsible for education and training are constantly seeking to identify and engage with tools and approaches that provide for a constructive learning environment. In this context, this paper explores the nature and value of Tabletop exercises (TTX) and how they can be applied in the nuclear security context. On the one hand, the paper dissects the key components of the TTX and considers the broader pedagogical benefits of this teaching method. On the other hand, the paper draws lessons from the authors’ experience of running TTXs as part of nuclear security professional …

Educational Nuclear Reactor Simulator, Kevin Jeunang, Koueni Tchamambe, Mutasem Albulushi, Malcolm Breckenridge

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The VCU Reactor Simulator provides a solid technical and visual approach to simulating a commercial pressurized water nuclear power plant. The simulator provides several benefits for VCU including: a hands on learning instrument that can be used in nuclear engineering courses, an opportunity for students to gain experience in nuclear modeling and simulation, and a community outreach tool to expand the public’s knowledge of nuclear technology.

In the six years since its inception, the only prior major modification to the simulator was the replacement of in-house written LabVIEW coding as the calculation engine with the RETRAN- 3D code, a program …

A High Availability Application Service Platform For Nuclear Power Enterprises, Zhe Sun, He Jin, Jianming Yong, Salim Al Isma'ili, Changying Li, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper presents a High Availability Application Service Platform (HAASP) and analyses its high availability. The architecture of this platform contains application server platform and high availability architecture. Application server platform consists of three major components, application release platform, which is implemented with WebLogic and WebSphere cluster, application and database platforms, which are built with Oracle RAC, and IBM Domino cluster. High availability architecture is constructed by virtual machines, distributed switches and storage pools. It employs virtualization technology to integrate physical servers and storages, where physical servers are responsible for the creation of virtual server cluster, distributed switches, storage pool …

The Nuclear Security Science And Policy Institute At Texas A&M University, Claudio A. Gariazzo, Kelley H. Ragusa, David R. Boyle, William S. Charlton, Sunil S. Chirayath, Craig M. Marianno, Paul Nelson Jr.

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The Nuclear Security Science and Policy Institute (NSSPI) is a multidisciplinary organization at Texas A&M University and was the first U.S. academic institution focused on technical graduate education, research, and service related to the safeguarding of nuclear materials and the reduction of nuclear threats. NSSPI employs science, engineering, and policy expertise to: (1) conduct research and development to help detect, prevent, and reverse nuclear and radiological proliferation and guard against nuclear terrorism; (2) educate the next generation of nuclear security and nuclear nonproliferation leaders; (3) analyze the interrelationships between policy and technology in the field of nuclear security; and (4) …

Assessment Of Reactivity Equivalence For Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuels In Light Water Reactors, Nathan Michael George

Doctoral Dissertations

The neutronic behavior of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concepts was simulated in light water reactors (LWRs) to establish design parameters to match reactivity lifetime requirements of standard UO₂ [uranium dioxide]/Zircaloy fuel. The two concepts discussed in this dissertation are fully ceramic micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel and alternate cladding concepts. To compare the required fuel alterations against standard UO₂/Zircaloy fuel, a 2D lattice-physics based reactivity equivalence method was established to estimate excess reactivity at the completion of each weighted batch cycle.

In the case of FCM fuel, the uranium-based tristructural isotropic (TRISO) kernel and the surrounding particle layers/matrix material …

Uct-Kirchberg Algebras Have Nuclear Dimension One, Efren Ruiz, Aidan Sims, Adam P. Sorensen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We prove that every Kirchberg algebra in the UCT class has nuclear dimension 1. We first show that Kirchberg 2-graph algebras with trivial K0 and finite K1 have nuclear dimension 1 by adapting a technique developed by Winter and Zacharias for Cuntz algebras. We then prove that every Kirchberg algebra in the UCT class is a direct limit of 2-graph algebras to obtain our main theorem.

The Nuclear Dimension Of Graph C*-Algebras, Efren Ruiz, Aidan Sims, Mark Tomforde

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Consider a graph C⁎C⁎-algebra C⁎(E)C⁎(E) with a purely infinite ideal I (possibly all of C⁎(E)C⁎(E)) such that I has only finitely many ideals and C⁎(E)/IC⁎(E)/I is approximately finite dimensional. We prove that the nuclear dimension of C⁎(E)C⁎(E) is 1. If I has infinitely many ideals, then the nuclear dimension of C⁎(E)C⁎(E) is either 1 or 2.

Process Design, Dynamics, And Techno-Economic Analysis Of A Sustainable Coal, Wind, And Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Hybrid Energy System, Kyle Lee Buchheit

Doctoral Dissertations

"The availability of cheap electricity is one of the biggest factors for improving quality of life. With the debate on the effects of carbon dioxide emissions continuing, several countries have either implemented or are considering the reduction of emissions through various economic means. The inclusion of a monetary penalty on carbon emissions would increase the prices of electricity produced by carbon-based sources. The push for large-scale renewable sources of energy has met problems with regards to energy storage and availability. The proposed coal, wind, and nuclear hybrid energy system would combine a renewable energy source, wind, with traditional and stable …

A Game-Theoretic Analysis Of The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Peter Revesz

CSE Conference and Workshop Papers

Although nuclear non-proliferation is an almost universal human desire, in practice, the negotiated treaties appear unable to prevent the steady growth of the number of states that have nuclear weapons. We propose a computational model for understanding the complex issues behind nuclear arms negotiations, the motivations of various states to enter a nuclear weapons program and the ways to diffuse crisis situations.

Development Of A Method For Incorporating Fault Codes In Prognostic Analysis, Eric Allen Strong

Doctoral Dissertations

Information from fault codes associated with a component may be used as an indicator of its health. A fault code is defined as a timestamp at which a component is not operating according to recommended guidelines. The type of fault codes which are relevant for this analysis represent mild or moderate deviations from normal behavior, rather than those requiring immediate repair. Potentially, fault codes may be used to determine the Remaining Useful Life (RUL) of a component by predicting its failure time, which will improve safety and reduce maintenance costs associated with the component. In this dissertation, methods have been …

Cd Dipping To Reduce Reactivity Of Fuel Assemblies In Spent Fuel Pools, John Clark Stooksbury

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Numerical Study Of High Temperature And High Velocity Gaseous Hydrogen Flow In A Cooling Channel Of A Ntr Core, Sajan B. Singh

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Two mathematical models (a one and a three-dimensional) were adopted to study, numerically, the thermal hydrodynamic behavior of flow inside a single cooling channel of a Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) engine. The first model assumes the flow in the cooling channel to be one-dimensional, unsteady, compressible, turbulent, and subsonic. The working fluid (GH₂) is assumed to be compressible. The governing equations of the 1-D model are discretized using a second order accurate finite difference scheme. Also, a commercial CFD code is used to study the same problem. Numerical experiments, using both codes, simulated the flow and heat transfer …

Two-Equation Two-Fluid Model For Bubbly Flow In A Vertical Channel, Jeffrey Feliszak, Martin Bertodano

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The one-dimensional two-fluid model is widely acknowledged as the most detailed and accurate macroscopic formulation of the thermo-fluid dynamics in nuclear reactor safety analysis. Several thermo-fluid dynamics codes have sprung up based on the one dimensional two-fluid model, such as RELAP5, TRAC, RETRAN, CATHARE, etc. However, these codes are quasi-steady because they lack the short wavelength models that are necessary to make the models well-posed; therefore they must rely on excessive numerical viscosity. Not utilizing short wavelength models causes small wavelength waves to grow quickly to infinity. The project objective is to develop a drafting force model for a one …

Compression Testing And Failure Modes Of Steel-Concrete Composite (Sc) Structures For Nuclear Containment, Patrick Michael Wanamaker, Amit H. Varma

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Although being able to provide much cleaner power than burning coal and other fossil fuels, nuclear power plants are still a tough sell to the general public due to their history of being spontaneously dangerous. The containment structures surrounding these nuclear plants, however, can play a huge role in reducing the risks associated with them. Relatively new designs for these containment assemblies, known as SC (steel-concrete composite) structures, aim to increase the strength and durability of the containment facilities while keeping costs down. By varying the spacing between shear studs, the ratio of concrete to steel, and the ratio of …

Micrometeoroid Fluence Variation In Critical Orbits Due To Asteroid Disruption, Eliot Dan Aretskin-Hariton

Master's Theses

Micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) is a growing issue with international importance. Micrometeoroids are naturally occurring fragments of rock and dusk that exist throughout the solar system. Orbital debris is human made material like rocket bodies, paint flakes, and the effluent of spacecraft collisions. Even small MMOD particles on the order of 1 cm in diameter have the potential to destroy critical spacecraft systems. Because of this, MMOD is a threat to all spacecraft in orbit. Even governments that most sternly oppose US international policy have a stake when it comes to minimizing MMOD flux. Space-based assets are essential to …

Sensitivity And Uncertainty Analysis Of A Fixed Source Criticality Accident Alarm System Benchmark Experiment, Kevin Howard Reynolds

Doctoral Dissertations

The Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) funded the development of a criticality accident alarm system (CAAS) benchmark to be published by the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) in the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (handbook). While there are shielding related benchmark evaluations published in the handbook, the effort in this dissertation concerns a first of its kind experiment that has been conceived from the ground up as a pulsed critical fixed source benchmark.

The experiment was designed in conjunction with the French government and conducted at their SILENE reactor facility at …

Simulations Of Ti-Y-O Nanoclusters In Ferritic Alloys, Natalie Browning Camilli

Masters Theses

Nanostructured ferritic alloys possess high strength and resistance to radiation effects due to the presence of nanoprecipitates. Though nanostructured ferritic alloys have desirable mechanical properties, the exact composition and structure of the nanoprecipitates is unknown; thus, atomistic simulations involving the formation of nanoclusters give insight as to their structure. This thesis focuses on the structure, formation and radiation stability of Ti-Y-O [titanium-yttrium-oxygen] nanoclusters in iron. The activation energies for diffusion and the diffusion coefficients of oxygen interstitial atoms in iron are determined. The binding energies of various combinations of oxygen interstitial atoms and iron vacancies are also tabulated. Thermodynamic formation …

Offensive Cyber: Superiority Or Stuck In Legal Hurdles?, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

In recent years, offensive cyber operations have attracted significant interest from the non-Defense Department academic legal community, prompting numerous articles seeking to create a legal theory for cyber conflicts. Naturally, cyber operations should be used in an ethical way, but the hurdles generated by the legal community are staggering. At a time when the United States has already lost an estimated $4 trillion in intellectual property as a result of foreign cyber espionage, not to mention the loss of military advantage, focusing on what the United States cannot do in cyberspace only hinders efforts to defend the country from future …

Europe In A ‘Nato Light’ World - Building Affordable And Credible Defense For The Eu, Jan Kallberg, Adam Lowther

Jan Kallberg

From an outsider’s perspective, the Common Security and Defense Policy and the efforts of the European Defense Agency are insufficient to provide Europe with the defense it will require in coming decades. While the European Union—particularly the members of the European Monetary Union—struggle to solve prolonged fiscal challenges, viable European security alternatives to an American-dominated security architecture are conspicuously absent from the documents and discussions that are coming from the European Council and at a time when the United States is engaged in an Asia-Pacific pivot. This is not to say that no thought has been given to defense issues. …

The Use Of A Fluidized Bed In A Spent Fuel Pool, Charles R. Menke, Natalie B. Camilli, Nathan A. Capps, Claire Fage, Timothy R. Hillard, Matthew B. Nash, Matthew L. Thornbury

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.