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Global support for nuclear energy drops after Fukushima

Quantum behavior with a flash: Pulsed quantum optomechanics

Europeans reignite fusion energy project: The test of a new lining that can take the heat of fusion could be crucial for a planned reactor in France

High-tech demand sparks return of cobalt mines

Collaboration puts Sandia hydrogen program on global track

University of Florida creates Engineering Innovation Institute, names first director; holding Engineering Innovation Summit Sept. 16

Nanoparticles and the interesting things they can accomplish in Bragg mirrors

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GNEII nuclear energy safety, security institute was officially launched with the signing of an agreement among TEES, Sandia National Laboratories and Khalifa University. Credit: Khalifa University.

The world now is quite a bit more tuned in to the need for multinational cooperation on nuclear energy issues than it was ten days ago. Hopefully, that awareness will translate into some appreciation for the work being done by two United States groups and a university in Abu Dhabi to help “seed” a culture of nuclear energy safety and security around the world.

Sandia National Labs recently announced that representatives of a special group within the lab, along with experts from Texas Engineering Experiment Station and leaders from the Khalifa University of Science, Technology & Research (Abu Dhabi) have signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes the Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GNEII, pronounced “genie”).

The Texas Engineering Experiment Station is an engineering research agency of the State of Texas and part of the Texas A&M University system. TAMU has a significant Department of Nuclear Engineering and many staff participate in departmental and TEES activities.

The Sandia team, led by Adam Williams, conceived and led the development of the new institute that seeds and cultivates a regional culture of responsible nuclear energy management.

Others have used the story of the “genie in the bottle” as a metaphor for nuclear materials, so it is appropriate to note that GNEII is symbolically about keeping the lid on that bottle. Sandia says there is international interest in this topic matter, and it hopes the new program will become a model for others built on a regional basis.

In a Sandia news release, Adams said, “Those of us with knowledge, who understand the safety, safeguards and security that nuclear energy programs require, have a responsibility to help local professionals adequately prepare for what they’re building. “

The target audience  is policymakers, government officials and energy program executives. The three institutions are developing a curriculum around general nuclear energy safety, safeguards and security issues. Specific subjects that will be covered are:

• Systems thinking;
• Basic nuclear physics;
• Nuclear fuel cycles;
• Nonproliferation;
• General power plant operations; and
• Radiological materials management.

Participants will also be required to carry out an independent research project.

Initially, participation is limited to professionals from three Emirati organizations (not named). There are plans to ultimately include professionals from all six Gulf Cooperation Council members (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates).

“Nuclear energy programs are complex and there are many steps to establishing a responsible nuclear program,” Williams continues in the Sandia release. “Among the local ranks in the Middle East, few understood all facets. Our goal is to provide a solid start for a comprehensive, complete and coherent introduction to a responsible nuclear energy program so the idea of a ‘Middle Eastern nuclear energy program’ won’t keep people up at night.”

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Some lithium ion batteries are plagued with, well, physical problems. Some of the mechanical effects are manifest as batteries that get very hot. Others swell, especially when overcharged, as has been noted by many authors (see here, for example). But seldom has the physical effects of lithium ion movement been demonstrated as dramatically as in this brief video produced by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Lab.

Investigators at the DOE’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab on the PNNL grounds have been observing nanowires composed of tin oxide rapidly change shape and deform when carrying lithium ions. According to a story from PNNL, the wires fatten by a third and stretched 250 percent!

“Nanowires of tin oxide were able to withstand the deformations associated with electrical flow better than bulk tin oxide, which is a brittle ceramic,” said Chongmin Wang, a materials scientist at the lab. “It reminds me of making a rope from steel. You wind together thinner wires rather than making one thick rope.”

Wang, PNNL chemist Wu Xu and Jianyu Huang (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Sandia National Lab) built a small battery with lithium cobalt oxide as the anode and a cathode composed of a single tin oxide nanowire. They then used a special TEM to image the nanowire while charging the battery.

Apparently, the ions cause a reaction front to move through the nanowire creating a moving “Medusa zone” or cloud of dense dislocations. These dislocations are nucleated and absorbed at the moving front.

Wang and the others say the nanowire begins as a crystalline state but the ions convert the tin oxide into a glassy state. They think the amount of accumulated deformation might provide a clue as to why some of these battery materials wear down. However, they also note that tin oxide nanowires perform better than bulk tin oxide cathodes.

“We think this work will stimulate new thinking for energy storage in general. This is just the beginning, and we hope with continued work it will show us how to design a better battery,” says Wang in the release.

There is good article about this in the Dec. 10 issue of Science.

Additional videos are available here, here, here and here.

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Sandia National Lab researchers have developed a new system that provides a way for utility companies to predict and prepare for fluctuations in power output due to changes in weather. By observing cloud shape, size and movement, the system can monitor how clouds affect large-scale photovoltaic power plants.

According to a Sandia news release, the effects of clouds on small PV arrays are well-documented, but there is little research on how large-scale arrays interact and function under cloud cover. A small system can be completely covered by a cloud, which drastically reduces its power output, but what’s less well understood is what happens when only part of a large system is covered by a moving cloud shadow, while the rest stays in sunlight.

Sandia researchers’ work is currently focused at the 1.2-megawatt La Ola Solar Farm on the Hawaiian island of Lana’i.

“As solar power continues to develop and take up a larger percentage of grids nationwide, being able to forecast power production is going to become more and more critical,” says Chris Lovvorn, director of alternative energy of Castle & Cooke Resorts, which owns 98 percent of the island. “Sandia’s involvement and insight has been invaluable in our efforts to meet 100 percent of the island’s energy needs with renewable resources.”

Sandia engineers connected 24 small, nonintrusive sensors to the plant’s PV panels and used a radio frequency network to transmit data. The sensors took readings at one-second intervals to provide researchers with unprecedented detail about cloud direction and coverage activity.

“These techniques will allow a developer to place a sensor network at a proposed site, make measurements for a period of time and use that to predict plant output variability,” says Sandia researcher Josh Stein.

La Ola was commissioned in December 2008 by Castle & Cooke and SunPower Corp., a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells. The project uses SunPower’s Tracker technology. Panels rotate on a single axis to follow the sun, which increases energy capture by up to 25 percent. Since February, Sandia Labs has held a cooperative research and development agreement with SunPower to conduct research on integrating large-scale PV systems into the grid. This CRADA is funded with about $1 million of combined U.S. Department of Energy and SunPower funding and is expected to achieve significant results, which will be disseminated through joint publications over the next two years.

For other news we’ve covered on SunPower Corp., see the following:

Sandia, Sunpower to cooperate on PV-to-grid modeling and tool development

24% PV efficiency

Nitride with silicon: solar cells with 30% efficiency?

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Credit: SunPower

Sandia National Lab and SunPower Corp. say they have reached a new agreement on research into integrating utility-scale solar energy systems into the national electrical grid.

Although a news release about this new cooperative research and development agreement only mentions photovoltaic systems, I have to imagine that might have been a mistake since it would be pretty nearsighted of them to exclude concentrating solar power systems.

Regardless, the two entities have at least $1 million in funding from the DOE and another $1 million from the California Solar Initiative fund.

In an announcement from SNL, Terry Michalske, director of Energy and Security Systems at the lab, said, “This partnership will enable Sandia and SunPower to capitalize on their respective strengths and bring together PV modeling and analysis expertise with extensive system data to answer many of the urgent questions facing utility companies and their customers who are turning to clean, solar energy resources.”

Generally speaking, the point of their work is how to blend sources with volatile energy levels into a grid whose customers rely on steady levels of power.

Abraham Ellis, one of Sandia’s photovoltaic specialists said, “A question worth asking is: What are the possible impacts of connecting very large PV systems or a lot of smaller, distributed PV systems on the grid, and what are the solutions for mitigating these impacts? It’s not just a rhetorical question anymore. Part of the problem is that we lack specialized tools and data to properly assess the impact on the grid and evaluate mitigation alternatives. This partnership will help address those challenges.”

SunPower recently completed large PV systems for Yolo County, California, and on the South Side of Chicago, using its proprietary PV panels and solar-tracking system.

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