KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

(SBIR) DOE - Advanced Technologies For Nuclear Energy Primary Sponsor: Department of Energy Deadline: 2/20/2001 Nuclear power is an important component of the Nation’s energy supply system, providing over 20 percent of the U.S. electricity without emitting harmful air pollutants, including those that cause adverse global climate change. New methods and products are needed to address key issues affecting the future of nuclear energy and to preserve U.S. nuclear science and technology leadership. This topic addresses several of these key issues: improvements in nuclear reactor technology; computer software, simulation, and modeling; and advanced thermoelectric devices and materials for improved radioisotope power systems. Grant applications are sought only in the following subtopics: a. New Technology for Improved Nuclear Energy Reactors¾Advances are needed for key system and component technologies that would ultimately be used in the design, construction, or operation of existing and advanced nuclear energy power plants. Grant applications are sought to: (1) optimize nuclear reactor plant and component system control, including the accurate measurement of key reactor and plant parameters, by developing advances in instrumentation, controls, and sensors; (2) assess plant and equipment performance and monitor aging, by developing advanced diagnostic techniques for in-service and non-destructive examination; and (3) improve corrosion resistance for light-water-reactor coolant system components, as well as for secondary side stream and feed water equipment, by exploring advances in materials and chemistry control. (See references 3-6, 8-12, 15, 17). Grant applications that address complete nuclear reactor or plant design concepts are not of interest and will be declined. b. Advanced Computer Software, Simulation, and Modeling Applications¾ Advanced computational techniques are needed for the design, development, testing, and evaluation of existing and advanced nuclear power reactor systems. Grant applications are sought for new software for simulation and modeling efforts (including parallel processing techniques) to support one or more of the following needs: (1) design, development, and experimentation of new and existing nuclear reactors and major reactor components, including advanced fission fuel core thermal-hydraulic design features; (2) advanced remote, automatic, in-place systems for characterizing nuclear waste and harmful by-product elements generated from nuclear reactors and power plants; (3) assessment, measurement, control, and management of nuclear reactor and plant performance, integrity, and operations. (See references 3-6, 8-12, 15, 17). Grant applications that address complete nuclear reactor or plant design concepts are not of interest and will be declined. c. Thermoelectric Devices and Materials for Improved Performance of Radioisotope Power Systems¾ Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG) have been the sole electrical power systems employed for NASA deep space exploration missions such as Voyager 1 and 2, Galileo, Ulysses, and more recently Cassini. These power systems provide units of power equal to nominally 100 or 300 watts electrical, and multiples thereof. The RTG provide very long life reliability, but their conversion efficiencies are low, typically 6.5 to 7.5 percent when the silicon-germanium unicouple is used as the thermoelectric conversion device. Due to changes in mission plans and philosophy, future NASA requirements will include higher conversion-efficiency units with power levels from 50 to about 200 watts, and much smaller power RTGs with power levels from 40 to 500 milliwatts. In anticipation of these future needs, grant applications are sought to develop: (1) an improved segmented unicouple (See references 2, 13-14, 16) which has a minimum target efficiency of 14 percent and is operational in a vacuum environment at temperatures of 300oC and 1000oC for the cold and hot junctions, respectively (the Phase I effort should use unicouple geometry (reference 13) to guide the conceptual design for a segmented unicouple, select materials, make preliminary predictions of conversion efficiency; and explore -- and if possible -- demonstrate intersegment bonding) and/or (2) a series and/or parallel milliwatt thermopile (see references 1 and 7) with a design based on the peripheral geometry of the current series connected thermopile (reference 13) and producing the same voltage/current output (the Phase I effort should initiate plans for manufacturing and demonstration, while Phase 2 would include completing the development and demonstration of the manufacturing process, as well as the manufacture of test hardware and a demonstration of performance). Please note: (1) The technical topics are to be interpreted literally; DOE personnel are not permitted to further interpret the narrative description of the technical topics. (2) The award selection process is extremely competitive. Last year, only 1 out of 6 grant applications were awarded. Only those applications with the highest scientific/technical quality will be competitive. References Bass, J. C. and Allen, D. T., "Milliwatt Radioisotope Power Supply for Space Application," Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Thermoelectrics, Baltimore, MD, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 1999, pp.521-524, Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Service Center. (ISBN: 0780354516) (0780354524 (microfiche))Cailat, T., et al., "Development of a High Efficiency Thermoelectric Unicouple for Power Generator Application," Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Thermoelectrics, Baltimore MD, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 1999, pp. 473-476, Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Service Center. (ISBN: 0780354516) (0780354524 (microfiche))Caffey, T. W., A Tool to Detect External Cracks from Within a Metal Tube, U.S. Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, January 1997. (Report No. SAND97-0170)(NTIS Order No. DE97003800)*Celina, M., et al.,"Anomalous Aging Phenomena in a Cross-linked Polyolefin Cable Insulation," Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 48(5):613-626, 1996. (ISSN:0969-806X)Chopra, O. R., et al., Environmental Assisted Cracking in Light Water Reactors, Semiannual Report, Jan. 1996-June 1996, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, May 1997. (Report No. NUREG/CR-4667-Vol.1)**Dodd, C. V., Data Analysis for Stream Generator Tubing Samples, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), July 1996. (Report No. NUREG/CR-6455)**Elsmer, N. B., et al.,"Fabrication of Milliwatt Modules," Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Thermoelectrics, Baltimore MD, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, 1999, pp 505-508, Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Service Center. (ISBN: 0780354516) (0780354524 (microfiche))"Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking of Core Shrouds in Boiling Water Reactors," NRC Generic Letter 94-03, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, July 25, 1994. (Available on the Web at: http://www.nrc/gov/NRC/GENACT/GC/GL/1994/index.html) (look for 194003.zip) (NRC PDR Accession No. 9407210200)**MacDonald, P. E., et al., Steam Generator Tube Failures, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, April 1996. (Report No. NUREG/CR-6365)**Monteleone, S., ed., Proceedings of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Twenty-Fourth Water Reactor Safety Information Meeting, Bethesda, Maryland, Oct. 21-23, 1996, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, January 1997. (Report No. NUREG/CP-0157, Vol. 1-3)**Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) http://www.neri.ne.doe.gov/info.htmlPate, J. R. and Dodd, C. V., Computer Programs for the Acquisition and Analysis of Eddy-Current Array Probe Data, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, August 1994. (Report No. NUREG/CR-6163)**Proceedings of the Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conferences, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1985 to date. (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Telephone: 703-264-7500. Web Site: http://www.aiaa.org)Rowe, D. M., ed., CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics, CRC Press, 1995. (ISBN: 0-8493-0146-7) Subudhi, M., Literature Review of Environmental Qualification of Safety-Related Electric Cables, Vol. 1-Summary of Past Work: Vol. 2-Literature Analysis and Appendices, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, April 1996. (Report No. NUREG/Cr-6384-Vol. 1 and Vol. 2)**Transactions of Symposia on Space Nuclear Power Systems, University of New Mexico, Institute for Space Nuclear Power Studies, Albuquerque, NM, 1984-1989/1995 & 1996. (11-volume set, 1984- 1989, plus limited quantities of some of the individual volumes available from Warrior Books - Telephone: 407-728-0805. E-Mail: books@brevard.com Web Site: http://www.warriorbooks.com) (1995 & 1996 available from Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., Telephone: 800-777-4643, Fax: 201-348-4505, E-Mail orders@springer-ny.com Web Site: http://www.springer-ny.com) (American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings Nos: 1995 - #324; 1996 - #361) (ISBNs: 11-volume set - 30-89464-045-3; 1986 (vol. 5) - #0-89464-017-8; 1997 (vol. 6) - #0-89464-019-4; 1988 (vol. 8)- #0-89464-029-1; 1989 (vol. 10 & 11)- #0-89464-030-5; 1995 - #1-56396- 427-9; 1996 - #1-56396-562-3What’s News U.S. DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology http://www.ne.doe.gov * See section 7.1 ** Available from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Document Room, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 1-800-397-4209 or 202-634-3273 NOTE: The Solicitations listed on this site are copies from the various SBIR agency solicitations and are not necessarily the latest and most up-to-date. For this reason, you should always use the suggested link below. This will take you directly to the appropriate agency information where you can read the official version of the solicitation you are interested in. The official link for this page is: http://sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir/Solicitations/FY%202001/2001.htm. Solicitation closing date is February 20, 2001.