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August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Groundwater data pave the way for Environmental Management Disposal Facility at Oak Ridge
Results of a two-year study of groundwater levels at the site of the planned Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) in Oak Ridge, Tenn., have been released, revealing that the levels fell at a slower-than-expected rate. The collection of data on groundwater levels during two wet seasons, conducted by the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and the contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge, formed the core of a groundwater field demonstration study which will help inform the final design of the EMDF landfill.
Konor Frick, Alexander Duenas, Piyush Sabharwall, JunSoo Yoo, Su-Jong Yoon, Carl Stoots, James E. O’Brien, Thomas O’Brien (INL)
Proceedings | Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technolgies (NPIC&HMIT 2019) | Orlando, FL, February 9-14, 2019 | Pages 1720-1729
Nuclear Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems (NR-HES) is an area of current research interest as wind and solar grid penetrations continue to increase. The goal of these systems is to enable nuclear plant operation at ~100% capacity and store excess energy, when available, for later use. Sensible heat Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems have been shown to be an effective thermal load management strategy allowing nuclear reactor systems to operate at effectively 100% full power while storing excess thermal energy for recovery at a later time. Thermal storage has been modeled extensively around the world. However, little in the way of experimentation is being conducted. Experimentation is needed to verify the dynamics and control of TES systems. To complement the modeling and simulation efforts on nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is designing a Thermal Energy Delivery System (TEDS). The system will provide a means of distributing thermal energy to and from various co-located systems located in the INL Dynamic Energy Transport and Integration Laboratory (DETAIL). DETAIL will include a high-pressure high-temperature water flow loop simulating a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), a 25 kWe High-Temperature Steam Electrolysis (HTSE) unit (first potential heat user/customer) and a packed-bed Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system. The thermal energy transfer from TEDS can be used in a flexible, dynamic manner incorporating charging and discharging cycles from the TES system, to support test/demonstration operations for nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems (N-R HES) applications. This paper discusses the design, operation, instrumentation (sensors), and control strategies to enable the dynamic operation of TEDS.