INL National University Consortium – Annual Report 13 NCSU, Ohio State Win ARPA-E MEITNER Award In June, a multi university, laboratory, and industry research team won $3.3 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Modeling- Enhanced Innovations Trailblazing Nuclear Energy Reinvigoration (MEITNER) funding opportunity. The research team is composed of researchers from North Carolina State University, The Ohio State University, New Mexico State University, Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Zachry Nuclear and TerraPower. The project, which began in October 2018, will focus on developing a highly automated management and control system for advanced nuclear reactors. The goal of this project is to assist plant operators by using artificial intelligence and continuous data monitoring to predict future plant status, thus reducing the overall operating cost of the plant. INL, in Collaboration with Ohio State, will Lead New EFRC For the second time, INL has won the opportunity to lead an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC). In collaboration with several partners, including The Ohio State University, INL will establish the Center for Thermal Energy Transport under Irradiation (TETI) with the purpose of accurately modeling and improving how heat moves through materials in extreme irradiation environments. Established by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science in 2009, the EFRC program brings together researchers from multiple disciplines and institutions to accelerate transformative discovery at the frontiers of science. The centers conduct fundamental research focusing on one or more “grand challenges” identified in major strategic planning efforts by the scientific community. million in new external funding won Over $21 External Funding Organization Title Lead Institution NUC Collaborators Total Funding Amount Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E) Development of a Nearly Autonomous Management and Control System for Advanced Reactors North Carolina State University Ohio State University $3,386,834 Energy Frontier Research Centers Center for Thermal Energy Transport under Irradiation Idaho National Laboratory Ohio State University $11,500,000 Nuclear Energy University Program Big Data for Operation and Maintenance Cost Reduction The Ohio State University $800,000 Nuclear Energy University Program Development of Nuclear Hybrid Energy Systems: Temperature Amplification through Chemical Heat Pumps for Industrial Applications University of Idaho Oregon State University $800,000 Nuclear Energy University Program Development of optical fiber-based gamma thermometer and its demonstration in a University Research Reactor using statistical data analytic methods to infer power distributions from gamma thermometer response The Ohio State University $1,000,000 Nuclear Energy University Program Evaluation of Economics Benefits of Accident Tolerant Plants Through Risk-Informed Approaches Massachusetts Institute of Technology $800,000 Nuclear Science User Facilities Irradiation Behavior of Piezoelectric Materials for Nuclear Reactor Sensors The Ohio State University $500,000 Research to Begin in FY19