This project aims at developing the selection methodology and strategy of an ATF for APR1400 and training Emirati professional manpower on the ATF R&D. To achieve these goals, three tasks will be conducted: (i) Task 1 – Development of ATF selection criteria for APR1400; (ii) Task 2 – Evaluation of high-temperature oxidation behavior of coated ATF cladding materials; (iii) Task 3 – Development of ATF selection methodology for APR1400. All the tasks will be conducted under the collaboration with KAIST and KAERI that have extensive experience on ATFs. Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) employees and graduate students at Khalifa University will participate in all the tasks, which will contribute to the capacity building for ATFs in the UAE. By adopting an ATF concept to the NPPs in the UAE, it is expected that the possibility of hydrogen explosion during severe accidents will be eliminated. Also, by widening the safety margin for the operation of the NPPs and increasing coping time during severe accidents, the safety of the NPPs during normal operational conditions will be greatly enhanced.

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From a catalytical point of view, H₂ evolution is a facile reaction. It is possible to further reduce energy losses by maximizing the surface area of electrodes or by activating cathodes. In the meantime, scrutiny of efficient electrode materials for O₂ anodic evolution is needed. In fact, the reaction of O₂ evolution is more energy demanding and affects the global energy balance severely. Therefore, development and optimization of the technology of electrolytic hydrogen production implies the evaluation of both cathodic and anodic reactions.

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The innovative system utilizes recycled aluminum used as a phase change material (PCM) to store electricity or heat as thermal energy and can be applied to renewable energy in general (photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), or wind) or to excess grid electricity. A Stirling engine can convert this stored heat into electricity on demand. The pilot will be installed at MISP. It will be charged using clean electricity from PV panels and will produce 50 kW of electricity at night to power the Masdar Park.

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A first line of work aims at building up reliable analytical techniques, monitoring protocols and SOPs to achieve and maintain in situ detailed knowledge of the chemical composition and microbial activity across the different SEAS subunits and compartments. Such characterization knowledge, and the capacity to monitor its changes, is essential to know the state of the complete system. A comprehensive sampling campaign, tailoring existing and developing new analytical techniques to the SEAS conditions, will produce robust protocols and SOPs to ensure high-reliability information about the system state at any moment in time. A second line of work aims at the development of a detailed predictive dynamic mathematical model of the integrated process and its subunits. The model will be based on material balances and contain detailed biokinetic descriptions of both chemical and biological conversions and transport processes of relevance. Advance space resolution modeling will be developed for parts of relevance in specific SEAS subunits. The model, coupled with good quality data for calibration, will have predictive capabilities allowing for its direct application to the optimization of SEAS design and operation under multiple scenarios that will be evaluated to inform the SBRC for scale-up design and operation. The principal investigator, Dr. Rodriguez, brings his world class expertise in bioprocess modeling in addition to the excellent lab facilities and resources available at Khalifa University鈥檚 Masdar Institute.

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Power system stability is one of the most important issues for secure and reliable network operation. Any failure to address stability concerns can lead to widespread blackouts and even system collapse. This problem is particularly relevant in the UAE context given the stated objective of the Abu Dhabi and UAE governments to significantly increase the penetration of renewable energy (RE). This will result in greater spatial distribution and temporal variability in electricity generation, both of which would impose additional strain and stability threats on existing networks. In addition, the recent completion of GCC interconnections between the UAE, Oman, and KSA has significantly changed the stability profile of the UAE power system and raised concerns about inter-area oscillations (IAOs). IAOs are a threat to wide-area stability, which are very difficult to detect using conventional Energy Management Systems and could lead to sweeping blackouts that occur within minutes. Existing tools for power system stability assessment are mainly based on 鈥渨hat if鈥� scenarios about system disturbances, and may be inadequate given the complexity of these challenges due to the uncertainty of RE power generation and nonlinearities of power system.

Therefore, the primary goal of this research project is to develop a prototype for a commercial (offline/online) tool (for the power system operator) that will facilitate effective power system stability assessment, visualization, and enhancement (SAVE). The SAVE tool will utilize real-time measurements and full system observability to reliably determine stability margins in the presence of uncertainty resulting from RE power generation and load demand, and will enable small and large signal stability assessments. In this context, advanced methods of individual invariance and functions will be developed and combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm, along with data analytics based classification engine to precisely estimate the domain of stability and to predict the system transient stability margins. Furthermore, a visualization system will be developed to support human-in-the-loop classification, diagnosis of the transmission system events, and the visualization of system stability. In addition, power system stability enhancement and the IAOs problems at the interconnections will be investigated, focusing on two key aspects: the real-time detection of IAOs and the development of an advanced damping controller. Finally, the SAVE tool will be implemented and validated for TRANSC network operation. This project is conducted with the active collaboration and support from TRANSCO and Manitoba Hydro International.

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A follow up international project has been initiated since 2014 and continued to the second phase by OECD/NEA to use the ATLAS facility in providing additional experimental measurements for common safety issues relevant to PWR consisting of five topics related to beyond design basis accidents. The United Arab Emirates is one of the countries participating in this project with the goal of increasing the local human capabilities and the required know-how on safety analysis studies. To achieve this, FANR and Khalifa University are planning to cooperate in taking part of the ATLAS project to produce numerical predictions for the pre-test prediction and the post-test simulations. The pre-tests rely on only the specification of the experiment given by the operating agency (OA). The post-test simulation can be performed after acquiring experiment data from OA. The codes to be used for this numerical study are the system codes RELAP5 developed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

At the start of the project, the steady-state input deck of RELAP5/MOD3 for ATLAS facility is to be provided by the facility operating agency, KAERI, to all participants. Then, each participating agency has to generate its transient input in accordance with proposed experiment scenarios. It goes without saying that even if the steady-state input deck is readily provided, the generation of transient input is toughly dependent on experience and know-how of user groups. Additionally, the given steady-state inputs also need to be modified and some components have to be remodeled in order to cope with the newly proposed scenario. For this reason, each participating agency comes back with different results even though they are using the same safety analysis code.

As mentioned above, RELAP5 will be used for both pre-test and post-test numerical predictions. The symbolic nuclear analysis package (SNAP) will help the input preparation. The schedule of pre-test and post-test runs to be performed will follow the planned schedule by the OA. Preparation of input, running simulation, debugging process, interpretation of results, and all lessons learned will be consolidated as a training material for increasing local human capability on safety analysis.
Additionally, at least one local component will be selected from each proposed scenario to investigate the detailed thermal hydraulic phenomena using the CFD approach. Simulation results from RELAP5 will then be mutually compared and validated with the CFD predictions, to be conducted at Khalifa University, and with the experimental data from the ATLAS facility.

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First, the research will start with the framework of the development of a methodology for risk analysis and management in sharing of electrical power in nuclear power plants. Second, we will investigate detailed identified issues of the electrical cross-tie in extended SBO event as a risk of dependency between multi-unit site. Third, we will elaborate the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) in assessing the safety of the NPP with the examination of common cause failures (CCFs) impact on the PRA risk quantification as a case study. The methodology of quantifying the risk of sharing of electrical cross-tie is developed in this stage and will be modeled in different cases. Lastly, we conclude the risk management process to access the cross-tie risk of multi-unit in different accident scenarios of SBO. Related analysis such as sensitivity, importance measures, risk, and cost analysis will be utilized in supporting the risk-informed decision-making process in selecting between mitigation options and reducing the SBO risk.

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