Optical Measurement Technologies for High Temperature, Radiation Exposure, and Corrosive Environments?Significant Activities and Findings: In-vessel Optical Measurements for Advanced SMRs

Development of advanced Small Modular Reactors (aSMRs) is key to providing the United States with a sustainable, economically viable, and carbon-neutral energy source. The aSMR designs have attractive economic factors that should compensate for the economies of scale that have driven development of large commercial nuclear power plants to date. For example, aSMRs can be manufactured at reduced capital costs in a factory and potentially shorter lead times and then be shipped to a site to provide power away from large grid systems. The integral, self-contained nature of aSMR designs is fundamentally different than conventional reactor designs. Future aSMR deployment will require new instrumentation and control (I&C) architectures to accommodate the integral design and withstand the extreme in-vessel environmental conditions. Operators will depend on sophisticated sensing and machine vision technologies that provide efficient human-machine interface for in-vessel telepresence, telerobotic control, and remote process operations. The future viability of aSMRs is dependent on understanding and overcoming the significant technical challenges involving in-vessel reactor sensing and monitoring under extreme temperatures, pressures, corrosive environments, and radiation fluxe

Ultra-Trace Chemical Sensing with Long-Wave Infrared Cavity-Enhanced Spectroscopic Sensors

The infrared sensors task of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL's) Remote Spectroscopy Project (Task B of Project PL211) is focused on the science and technology of remote and in-situ spectroscopic chemical sensors for detecting proliferation and coun-tering terrorism. Missions to be addressed by remote chemical sensor development in-clude detecting proliferation of nuclear or chemical weapons, and providing warning of terrorist use of chemical weapons. Missions to be addressed by in-situ chemical sensor development include countering terrorism by screening luggage, personnel, and shipping containers for explosives, firearms, narcotics, chemical weapons, or chemical weapons residues, and mapping contaminated areas. The science and technology is also relevant to chemical weapons defense, air operations support, monitoring emissions from chemi-cal weapons destruction or industrial activities, law enforcement, medical diagnostics, and other applications. Sensors for most of these missions will require extreme chemical sensitivity and selectiv-ity because the signature chemicals of importance are expected to be present in low con-centrations or have low vapor pressures, and the ambient air is likely to contain pollutants or other chemicals with interfering spectra. Cavity-enhanced chemical sensors (CES) that draw air samples into optical cavities for laser-based interrogation of their chemical content promise real-time, in-situ chemical detection with extreme sensitivity to specified target molecules and superb immunity to spectral interference and other sources of noise. PNNL is developing CES based on quantum cascade (QC) lasers that operate in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR - 3 to 5 microns) and long-wave infrared (LWIR - 8 to 14 mi-crons), and CES based on telecommunications lasers operating in the short-wave infrared (SWIR - 1 to 2 microns). All three spectral regions are promising because smaller mo-lecular absorption cross sections in the SWIR are offset by the superior performance, ma-turity, and robustness of SWIR lasers, detectors, and other components, while the reverse is true for the MWIR and LWIR bands. PNNL's research activities include identification of signature chemicals and quantification of their spectroscopy, exploration of novel sensing techniques, and experimental sensor system construction and testing. In FY02, experimental QC laser systems developed with DARPA funding were used to explore continuous-wave (cw) CES in various forms culminating in the NICE-OHMS technique [1-3] discussed below. In FY02 PNNL also built an SWIR sensor to validate utility of the SWIR spectral region for chemical sensing, and explore the science and engineering of CES in field environments. The remainder of this report is devoted to PNNL's LWIR CES research. During FY02 PNNL explored the performance and limitations of several detection tech-niques in the LWIR including direct cavity-enhanced absorption, cavity-dithered phase-sensitive detection and resonant sideband cavity-enhanced detection. This latter tech-nique is also known as NICE-OHMS, which stands for Noise-Immune Cavity-Enhanced Optical Heterodyne Molecular Spectroscopy. This technique, pioneered in the near infra-red (NIR) by Dr J. Hall and coworkers at the University of Colorado, is one of the most sensitive spectroscopic techniques currently known. In this report, the first demonstra-tion of this technique in the LWIR is presented

FY 2005 Quantum Cascade Laser Alignment System Final Report

The Alignment Lasers Task of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL's) Remote Spectroscopy Project (Project PL211I) is a co-funded project between DOE NA-22 and a Classified Client. This project, which began in the second half of FY03, involved building and delivering a Quantum Cascade (QC) Laser Alignment System to be used for testing the pupil alignment of an infrared sensor by measuring the response from four pairs of diametrically opposed QC lasers. PNNL delivered the system in FY04 and provided technical assistance in FY05 culminating into a successful demonstration of the system. This project evolved from the Laser Development Task of PL211I, which is involved in developing novel laser technology to support development of advanced chemical sensors for detecting the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The laser systems are based on quantum cascade (QC) lasers, a new semiconductor source in the infrared. QC lasers can be tailored to emit light throughout the infrared region (3.5 ? 17 ?m) and have high output power and stability. Thus, these lasers provide an infrared source with superb power and spectral stability enabling them to be used for applications such as alignment and calibration in addition to chemical sensing

Progress Report on Frequency - Modulated Differential Absorption Lidar

Modeling done at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in FY2000 predicted improved sensitivity for remote chemical detection by differential absorption lidar (DIAL) if frequency-modulated (FM) lasers were used. This improved sensitivity results from faster averaging away of speckle noise and the recently developed quantum cascade (QC) lasers offer the first practical method for implementing this approach in the molecular fingerprint region of the infrared. To validate this model prediction, a simple laboratory bench FM-DIAL system was designed, assembled, tested, and laboratory-scale experiments were carried out during FY2001. Preliminary results of the FM DIAL experiments confirm the speckle averaging advantages predicted by the models. In addition, experiments were performed to explore the use of hybrid QC - CO2 lasers for achieving sufficient frequency-modulated laser power to enable field experiments at longer ranges (up to one kilometer or so). This approach will allow model validation at realistic ranges much sooner than would be possible if one had to first develop master oscillator - power amplifier systems utilizing only QC devices. Amplification of a QC laser with a CO2 laser was observed in the first hybrid laser experiments, but the low gain and narrow linewidth of the CO2 laser available for these experiments prevented production of a high-power FM laser beam

Long Wave Infrared Detection of Chemical Weapons Simulants

The purpose of Task 3.b under PL02-OP211I-PD07 (CBW simulant detection) was to demonstrate the applicability of the sensor work developed under this project for chemical and biological weapons detection. To this end, the specific goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of detection of chemical agents via that of simulants (Freons) with similar spectroscopic features. This has been achieved using Freon-125 as a simulant, a tunable external cavity quantum cascade laser (ECQCL), and a Herriott cell-based sensor developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) specifically for this task. The experimentally obtained spectrum of this simulant matches that found in the Northwest Infrared (NWIR) spectral library extremely well, demonstrating the ability of this technique to detect the exact shape of this feature, which in turn indicates the ability to recognize the simulant even in the presence of significant interference. It has also been demonstrated that the detected features of a typical interferent, namely water, are so different in shape and width to the simulant, that they are easily recognized and separated from such a measurement. Judging from the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the experimental data obtained, the noise equivalent absorption sensitivity is estimated to be 0.5 x 10-7 to 1 x 10-6 cm-1. For the particular feature of the simulant examined in this work, this corresponds to a relative concentration of 50 to 25 parts-per-billion by volume (ppbv). The corresponding relative concentrations of other chemical targets would differ depending on the particular transition strengths, and would thus have to be scaled accordingly

Technical Readiness and Gaps Analysis of Commercial Optical Materials and Measurement Systems for Advanced Small Modular Reactors

This report intends to support Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap and industry stakeholders by evaluating optical-based instrumentation and control (I&C) concepts for advanced small modular reactor (AdvSMR) applications. These advanced designs will require innovative thinking in terms of engineering approaches, materials integration, and I&C concepts to realize their eventual viability and deployability. The primary goals of this report include: 1. Establish preliminary I&C needs, performance requirements, and possible gaps for AdvSMR designs based on best available published design data. 2. Document commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) optical sensors, components, and materials in terms of their technical readiness to support essential AdvSMR in-vessel I&C systems. 3. Identify technology gaps by comparing the in-vessel monitoring requirements and environmental constraints to COTS optical sensor and materials performance specifications. 4. Outline a future research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) program plan that addresses these gaps and develops optical-based I&C systems that enhance the viability of future AdvSMR designs. The development of clean, affordable, safe, and proliferation-resistant nuclear power is a key goal that is documented in the Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap. This roadmap outlines RD&D activities intended to overcome technical, economic, and other barriers, which currently limit advances in nuclear energy. These activities will ensure that nuclear energy remains a viable component to this nation’s energy security

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Model Calculations of Continuous-Wave Laser Ionization of Krypton

This report describes modeling of a scheme that uses continuous-wave (CW) lasers to ionize selected isotopes of krypton with high isotopic selectivity. The models predict that combining this ionization scheme with mass spectrometric measurement of the resulting ions can be the basis for ultra-sensitive methods to measure {sup 85}Kr in the presence of a 10{sup 11} excess of the stable krypton isotopes. Two experimental setups are considered in this model: the first setup is for krypton as a static gas, the second is for krypton in an atomic beam. In the static gas experiment, for a total krypton press of 10{sup {minus}4} torr and 10 W of power in the cavity, the model predicts a total krypton ion current of 4.6 x 10{sup 8} s{sup {minus}1} and for a {sup 85}Kr/Kr of 10{sup {minus}11} a {sup 85}Kr ion current of 3.5 s{sup {minus}1} or about 10,000 per hour. The atomic beam setup allowed higher isotopic selectivity; the model predicts a {sup 85}Kr ion current of 18 s{sup {minus}1} or 65,000 per hour