An experimental loop for simulating nuclear reactors in space

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PENN STATE

 

IMAGE: THE HOT HYDROGEN TEST LOOP, SHOWN IN THIS DIAGRAM, WILL CIRCULATE HYDROGEN GAS AT HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR MATERIALS TESTING. view more 

CREDIT: WILL SEARIGHT, PENN STATE

Nuclear thermal propulsion, which uses heat from nuclear reactions as fuel, could be used one day in human spaceflight, possibly even for missions to Mars. Its development, however, poses a challenge. The materials used must be able to withstand high heat and bombardment of high-energy particles on a regular basis.

Will Searight, a nuclear engineering doctoral student at penn State, is contributing to research that could make these advancements more feasible. He published findings from a preliminary design simulation in Fusion Science and Technology, a publication of the American Nuclear Society. 

To better investigate nuclear thermal propulsion, Searight simulated a small-scale laboratory experiment known as a hydrogen test loop. The setup mimics a reactor's operation in space, where flowing hydrogen travels through the core and propels the rocket — at temperatures up to nearly 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Searight developed the simulation using dimensions from detailed drawings of tie tubes, the components that make up much of the test loop through which hydrogen flows. Industry partner Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (USNC) provided the drawings.

“Understanding how USNC’s components behave in a hot hydrogen environment is crucial to bringing our rockets to space,” Searight said. “We’re thrilled to be working with one of the main reactor contractors for NASA’s space nuclear propulsion project, which is seeking to produce a demonstration nuclear thermal propulsion engine within a decade.”

Advised by Leigh Winfrey, associate professor and undergraduate program chair of nuclear engineering, Searight used Ansys Fluent, a  modeling software, to design a simulation loop from a stainless steel pipe with an outer diameter of about two inches. In the model, the loop connects to a hydrogen pump and circulates hot hydrogen through a test section adjacent to a heating element. 

Searight found that while consistent heating of hydrogen to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit was possible, it was necessary to include a heating element directly above the test section to prevent a reduction in heating. Data collected from the modeling software showed that the flow of hydrogen through the test section was smooth and uniform, reducing uneven distribution of heat through the loop that could jeopardize the setup’s safety and lifespan. Analysis of the results also verified that stainless steel would allow for more convenient and cost-effective construction of the loop.

“We are excited to take the first steps in developing a unique capability for extreme environment simulation at Penn State,” Winfrey said. “This preliminary work will enable us to pursue research that could have a major impact on the future of space exploration.”

With further research, Searight’s preliminary work could enable expanded testing of materials that could one day be implemented to create faster, more efficient space travel using reactor-fueled rockets.

Recently, Searight received the George P. Shultz and James W. Behrens Graduate Scholarship from ANS. Searight will use the award to support his future work on the test loop. The $3,000 scholarship honors Shultz, a nuclear nonproliferation advocate and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient who died in February, and Behrens, a previous ANS board member who held numerous positions in the national security sector. 

A NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract supported this work.

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JOURNAL

Fusion Science & Technology

DOI

10.1080/15361055.2021.1913373 

ARTICLE TITLE

Preliminary Design of a Hot Hydrogen Test Loop for Plasma-Material–Interaction Evaluation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

28-Aug-2021

Fecal contamination in popular Montana backcountry area primarily attributable to wildlife or pack animals

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ELSEVIER

 

IMAGE: INVESTIGATORS ANALYZED WATER SAMPLES FROM A SUITE OF BACKCOUNTRY LAKE OUTLETS IN THE ABSAROKA-BEARTOOTH WILDERNESS AREA OF MONTANA FOR FECAL CONTAMINATION. COMBINING A TRADITIONAL FECAL BACTERIAL ASSAY AND POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR), RESEARCHERS FOUND FECAL CONTAMINATION, BUT IN MOST CASES THE SOURCE DOES NOT APPEAR TO DERIVE FROM HUMAN FECES. view more 

CREDIT: DANIEL P. PENDERGRAPH

Philadelphia, September 22, 2021 – Is increased human visitation to backcountry areas impacting water quality? Investigators analyzed water samples from a suite of backcountry lake outlets in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area of Montana for fecal contamination. Combining a traditional fecal bacterial assay and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), researchers found fecal contamination, but in most cases the source does not appear to derive from human feces. The new method and results are reported in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, published by Elsevier.

With over 1100 km of trails, the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area in South Central Montana receives high recreational use, including backpacking and travel by horseback. Visits are concentrated around lakes and at water sources near popular summits. “Although the region is remote, increasing human visitation to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area has the potential to negatively affect water quality, with particular concern about human-derived fecal contamination,” explained lead author Daniel P. Pendergraph, MS, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.

The investigators took water samples from 21 remote alpine lake outlets and two snowmelt streams in the area. The samples were tested with standard and widely used fecal bacterial assays that quantified total coliform bacteria and Escherichia coli (E coli) concentrations. They were also tested with more specific droplet digital PCR assays to amplify and quantify specific genes known to occur in human feces.

Total coliforms were present in all of the lake outlets sampled, and E coli were found at 52% of the sites. The highest levels of E coli occurred in lake outlets that are popular recreational water sources and accessible to stock animals and human foot traffic.

Human-associated Bacteroides were found in low abundances in all sites tested. They were present, but not quantifiable, in 52% (7 of 15 sites) of the sites examined. Only one of the sites had quantifiable, but relatively low, human-associated Bacteroides. There were no apparent relationships between landscape type (e.g., open forest, meadow, alpine tundra), elevation, or distance to the trailhead.

“Our research suggests that the major sources of total coliform and E coli in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area could derive from wild animals (deer, rodents, etc.) in addition to livestock, pack animals, or pets brought in by human visitors,” said Mr. Pendergraph.

“These results highlight the utility of combining more traditional assays with emerging microbial source tracking with DNA and PCR based methods,” observed lead investigator Matthew J. Church, PhD, Flathead Lake Biological Station, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Polson, MT, USA. “We suspect there will be an increasing number of studies that will benefit from this approach.”

The investigators stress that the widespread detection of total coliforms, Bacteroides, and E coli in the study highlights the importance of purifying water sources in wilderness areas before consumption.

 

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JOURNAL

Wilderness and Environmental Medicine

DOI

10.1016/j.wem.2021.04.007 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Differentiating Sources of Fecal Contamination to Wilderness Waters Using Droplet Digital PCR and Fecal Indicator Bacteria Methods

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not r

Functioning of terrestrial ecosystems is governed by three main factors

Study helps to better assess the capacity of global ecosystems to adapt to climate and environmental change

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GERMAN CENTRE FOR INTEGRATIVE BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH (IDIV) HALLE-JENA-LEIPZIG

 

IMAGE: THE EXPERIMENTAL SITE IN TORGNON (ITALY), A GRASSLAND LOCATED AT ABOUT 2100 M IN THE WESTERN ITALIAN ALPS, AND BELONGING TO THE INTEGRATED CARBON OBSERVATION SYSTEM (ICOS) AND FLUXNET NETWORK. view more 

CREDIT: MARTA GALVAGNO

Ecosystems on Earth’s land surface support multiple functions and services that are critical for society, like biomass production, vegetation’s efficiency of using sunlight and water, water retention and climate regulation, and ultimately food security. Climate and environmental changes, as well as anthropogenic impacts, are continuously threatening the provision of these functions. To understand how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to this threat, it is crucial to know which functions are essential to obtain a good representation of the ecosystems’ overall well-being and functioning. This is particularly difficult since ecosystems are rather complex in terms of their structure and their responses to environmental changes. 

A large international network of researchers, led by Dr Mirco Migliavacca at MPI BGC and iDiv in Germany, tackled this question by combining multiple data streams and methods. The scientists used environmental data from global networks of ecosystem stations, combined with satellite observations, mathematical models, and statistical and causal discovery methods. The result is strikingly simple: “We were able to identify three key indicators that allow us to summarise how ecosystems function: the maximum realised productivity, the efficiency of using water, and the efficiency of using carbon” says the study’s first author Dr Migliavacca.

The maximum productivity indicator reflects the capacity of the given ecosystem to uptake CO2. The water use indicator is a combination of metrics representing the ecosystem water use efficiency, which is the carbon taken up per quantity of water transpired by plants. The carbon use efficiency indicator reflects the use of carbon by an ecosystem, which represents the carbon respired versus carbon taken up. The surprising findings made the team reflect on how complex ecosystems are ultimately driven by a small set of major factors just like was found, for instance, for leaf photosynthesis based on a handful of leaf traits. 

“Using only these three major factors, we can explain almost 72 percent of the variability within ecosystem functions,” Migliavacca adds. “With water-use efficiency being the second major factor, our results emphasise the importance of water availability for ecosystems’ performance. This will be crucial for climate change impact considerations,” says last author Prof Dr Markus Reichstein, director of the department Biogeochemical Integration at MPI BGC and iDiv.

The researchers inspected the exchange rates of carbon dioxide, water vapour, and energy at 203 monitoring stations around the world that belong to the FLUXNET network, a collaborative network of multiple research teams and field sites that collect and share their data. The selected sites cover a large variety of climate zones and vegetation types. For each site, they calculated a set of the ecosystems’ functional properties, and further included calculations on average climate and soil water availability variables as well as vegetation characteristics and satellite data on vegetation biomass.

The three identified functional indicators critically depend on the structure of vegetation, that is vegetation greenness, nitrogen content of leaves, vegetation height, and biomass. This result underlines the importance of ecosystem structure, which can be shaped by disturbances and forest management in controlling ecosystem functions. At the same time, the water and carbon use efficiency also critically depend on climate and partly on aridity, which points at the critical role of climate change for future ecosystem functioning. “Our exploratory analysis serves as a crucial step towards developing indicators for ecosystem functioning and ecosystem health,” summarises Reichstein, “adding to a comprehensive assessment of the world’s ecosystems response to climate and environmental changes.”

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DOI

10.1038/s41586-021-03939-9 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

The three major axes of terrestrial ecosystem function

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

22-Sep-2021

Climate change could alter how sea creatures communicate

Reports and Proceedings

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Telecommunications networks span the globe, allowing people to quickly and effortlessly exchange information. Undersea chemical communication among marine life is just as complex, but not as well understood. According to a feature article in Chemical & Engineering News, an independent news outlet of the American Chemical Society, climate change could alter the transmission and receipt of chemical signals by ocean creatures, potentially affecting the delicate balance of undersea ecosystems or causing entire species to disappear.

Improved analytical techniques are helping pin down the thousands of molecules that ocean organisms use to communicate, according to freelance writer Carolyn Wilke. These chemical signals help creatures find food or mates, care for their eggs or avoid predators. With increasing carbon dioxide levels, and the resulting ocean acidification, some marine organisms could become less sensitive to these cues, or the molecules themselves could become altered chemically or conformationally. To help protect ocean ecosystems, scientists are trying to understand the myriad molecules and mechanisms that underlie marine communication networks.

Sensitive new techniques have allowed researchers to identify molecules that had previously gone unrecognized because they’re so dilute in water. Other studies suggest that ocean acidification could change the shapes of peptides that female shore crabs use as cues to care for their eggs, causing the crabs to not ventilate their eggs as frequently. Although many studies have reported changes in fishes’ sense of smell and behavior with increased carbon dioxide levels, recent controversy over some papers’ methodology for monitoring behavioral changes has muddied the waters. Nonetheless, researchers continue to study the effects of climate change on chemical communication throughout multiple levels of the ocean food chain, hoping to inform policy makers about conservation efforts to protect ecosystems. 

A version of this story first appeared in ACS Central Science.

The article, “Climate Change Could Alter Undersea Chemical Communication”, is freely available here. 

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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Assessment of a Program for SARS-CoV-2 Screening and Environmental Monitoring in an Urban Public School District

John Crowe, PhD¹; Andy T. Schnaubelt, PhD²; Scott SchmidtBonne, MA¹; et alKathleen Angell, MPH³; Julia Bai, MPH³; Teresa Eske, MA¹; Molly Nicklin, BA¹; Catherine Pratt, MS⁴; Bailey White, BS⁴; Brodie Crotts-Hannibal⁵; Nicholas Staffend, MS⁶; Vicki Herrera, MS⁶; Jeramie Cobb, BS¹; Jennifer Conner, BA⁶; Julie Carstens, MS⁶; Jonell Tempero, BS⁶; Lori Bouda, MS¹; Matthew Ray, MS¹; James V. Lawler, MD^7,8; W. Scott Campbell, PhD⁶; John-Martin Lowe, PhD^4,8; Joshua Santarpia, PhD^6,8; Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, PhD⁵; Michael Wiley, PhD^4,8; David Brett-Major, MD^3,8; Cheryl Logan, EdD¹; M. Jana Broadhurst, MD, PhD^6,8

Author Affiliations Article Information

JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(9):e2126447. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.26447

Original Investigation 

Infectious Diseases

September 22, 2021

Key Points

Question  Does weekly testing of kindergarten through 12th grade students and staff improve detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and understanding of the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in urban public school settings?

Findings  In this quality improvement study, weekly school-based saliva polymerase chain reaction testing at 3 urban public schools was associated with increased case detection among staff and students compared with symptom-based strategies, exceeding county-level case rates. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in school wastewater samples each week as well as air and surface samples from choir classrooms.

Meaning  This study suggests that routine SARS-CoV-2 testing may identify infected staff and students who are not identified through conventional case detection and may provide insight into disease burdens of undertested communities.

Abstract

Importance  Scalable programs for school-based SARS-CoV-2 testing and surveillance are needed to guide in-person learning practices and inform risk assessments in kindergarten through 12th grade settings.

Objectives  To characterize SARS-CoV-2 infections in staff and students in an urban public school setting and evaluate test-based strategies to support ongoing risk assessment and mitigation for kindergarten through 12th grade in-person learning.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This pilot quality improvement program engaged 3 schools in Omaha, Nebraska, for weekly saliva polymerase chain reaction testing of staff and students participating in in-person learning over a 5-week period from November 9 to December 11, 2020. Wastewater, air, and surface samples were collected weekly and tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA to evaluate surrogacy for case detection and interrogate transmission risk of in-building activities.

Main Outcomes and Measures  SARS-CoV-2 detection in saliva and environmental samples and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Results  A total of 2885 supervised, self-collected saliva samples were tested from 458 asymptomatic staff members (mean [SD] age, 42.9 [12.4] years; 303 women [66.2%]; 25 Black or African American [5.5%], 83 Hispanic [18.1%], 312 White [68.1%], and 35 other or not provided [7.6%]) and 315 students (mean age, 14.2 [0.7] years; 151 female students [48%]; 20 Black or African American [6.3%], 201 Hispanic [63.8%], 75 White [23.8%], and 19 other race or not provided [6.0%]). A total of 46 cases of SARS-CoV-2 (22 students and 24 staff members) were detected, representing an increase in cumulative case detection rates from 1.2% (12 of 1000) to 7.0% (70 of 1000) among students and from 2.1% (21 of 1000) to 5.3% (53 of 1000) among staff compared with conventional reporting mechanisms during the pilot period. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in wastewater samples from all pilot schools as well as in air samples collected from 2 choir rooms. Sequencing of 21 viral genomes in saliva specimens demonstrated minimal clustering associated with 1 school. Geographical analysis of SARS-CoV-2 cases reported district-wide demonstrated higher community risk in zip codes proximal to the pilot schools.

Conclusions and Relevance  In this study of staff and students in 3 urban public schools in Omaha, Nebraska, weekly screening of asymptomatic staff and students by saliva polymerase chain reaction testing was associated with increased SARS-CoV-2 case detection, exceeding infection rates reported at the county level. Experiences differed among schools, and virus sequencing and geographical analyses suggested a dynamic interplay of school-based and community-derived transmission risk. Collectively, these findings provide insight into the performance and community value of test-based SARS-CoV-2 screening and surveillance strategies in the kindergarten through 12th grade educational setting.

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Assessment of a Program for SARS-CoV-2 Screening and Environmental Monitoring in an Urban Public School District | Infectious Diseases | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network

Study: Global cancer risk from burning organic matter comes from unregulated chemicals

The researchers hope scientists and regulators will consider a broader class of compounds in evaluating cancer risk due to PAH exposure.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Whenever organic matter is burned, such as in a wildfire, a power plant, a car’s exhaust, or in daily cooking, the combustion releases polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) — a class of pollutants that is known to cause lung cancer.

There are more than 100 known types of PAH compounds emitted daily into the atmosphere. Regulators, however, have historically relied on measurements of a single compound, benzo(a)pyrene, to gauge a community’s risk of developing cancer from PAH exposure. Now MIT scientists have found that benzo(a)pyrene may be a poor indicator of this type of cancer risk.

In a modeling study appearing today in the journal GeoHealth, the team reports that benzo(a)pyrene plays a small part — about 11 percent — in the global risk of developing PAH-associated cancer. Instead, 89 percent of that cancer risk comes from other PAH compounds, many of which are not directly regulated.

Interestingly, about 17 percent of PAH-associated cancer risk comes from “degradation products” — chemicals that are formed when emitted PAHs react in the atmosphere. Many of these degradation products can in fact be more toxic than the emitted PAH from which they formed.

The team hopes the results will encourage scientists and regulators to look beyond benzo(a)pyrene, to consider a broader class of PAHs when assessing a community’s cancer risk.

“Most of the regulatory science and standards for PAHs are based on benzo(a)pyrene levels. But that is a big blind spot that could lead you down a very wrong path in terms of assessing whether cancer risk is improving or not, and whether it’s relatively worse in one place than another,” says study author Noelle Selin, a professor in MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society, and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

Selin’s MIT co-authors include Jesse Kroll, Amy Hrdina, Ishwar Kohale, Forest White, and Bevin Engelward, and Jamie Kelly (who is now at University College London). Peter Ivatt and Mathew Evans at the University of York are also co-authors.

Chemical pixels

Benzo(a)pyrene has historically been the poster chemical for PAH exposure. The compound’s indicator status is largely based on early toxicology studies. But recent research suggests the chemical may not be the PAH representative that regulators have long relied upon.   

“There has been a bit of evidence suggesting benzo(a)pyrene may not be very important, but this was from just a few field studies,” says Kelly, a former postdoc in Selin’s group and the study’s lead author.

Kelly and his colleagues instead took a systematic approach to evaluate benzo(a)pyrene’s suitability as a PAH indicator. The team began by using GEOS-Chem, a global, three-dimensional chemical transport model that breaks the world into individual grid boxes and simulates within each box the reactions and concentrations of chemicals in the atmosphere.

They extended this model to include chemical descriptions of how various PAH compounds, including benzo(a)pyrene, would react in the atmosphere. The team then plugged in recent data from emissions inventories and meteorological observations, and ran the model forward to simulate the concentrations of various PAH chemicals around the world over time.

Risky reactions

In their simulations, the researchers started with 16 relatively well-studied PAH chemicals, including benzo(a)pyrene, and traced the concentrations of these chemicals, plus the concentration of their degradation products over two generations, or chemical transformations. In total, the team evaluated 48 PAH species.

They then compared these concentrations with actual concentrations of the same chemicals, recorded by monitoring stations around the world. This comparison was close enough to show that the model’s concentration predictions were realistic.

Then within each model’s grid box, the researchers related the concentration of each PAH chemical to its associated cancer risk; to do this, they had to develop a new method based on previous studies in the literature to avoid double-counting risk from the different chemicals. Finally, they overlaid population density maps to predict the number of cancer cases globally, based on the concentration and toxicity of a specific PAH chemical in each location.

Dividing the cancer cases by population produced the cancer risk associated with that chemical. In this way, the team calculated the cancer risk for each of the 48 compounds, then determined each chemical’s individual contribution to the total risk.

This analysis revealed that benzo(a)pyrene had a surprisingly small contribution, of about 11 percent, to the overall risk of developing cancer from PAH exposure globally. Eighty-nine percent of cancer risk came from other chemicals. And 17 percent of this risk arose from degradation products.

“We see places where you can find concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene are lower, but the risk is higher because of these degradation products,” Selin says. “These products can be orders of magnitude more toxic, so the fact that they’re at tiny concentrations doesn’t mean you can write them off.”

When the researchers compared calculated PAH-associated cancer risks around the world, they found significant differences depending on whether that risk calculation was based solely on concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene or on a region’s broader mix of PAH compounds.

“If you use the old method, you would find the lifetime cancer risk is 3.5 times higher in Hong Kong versus southern India, but taking into account the differences in PAH mixtures, you get a difference of 12 times,” Kelly says. “So, there’s a big difference in the relative cancer risk between the two places. And we think it’s important to expand the group of compounds that regulators are thinking about, beyond just a single chemical.”

This research was conducted in MIT’s Superfund Research Center and is supported in part by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Basic Research Program, and the National Institutes of Health.

###

Written by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office

Paper: “Global Cancer Risk from Unregulated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons”

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2021GH000401

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JOURNAL

GeoHealth

DOI

10.1029/2021GH000401 

ARTICLE TITLE

Global Cancer Risk from Unregulated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

 

Engineers discover way to turn organic waste into renewable biofuel additives using radiation

Engineers at Lancaster University have led research that discovers a way to generate renewable biofuel additives, using radiation that could be derived from nuclear waste.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

LANCASTER UNIVERSITY

Engineers at Lancaster University have led research that discovers a way to generate renewable biofuel additives, using radiation that could be derived from nuclear waste.

The renewable proportion of petrol is set to increase to 20 per cent over the coming years, meaning the discovery of a new production pathway for these additives could help in the fight to cut carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change.

In the research paper entitled ‘Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics’, published in the science journal Communications Chemistry, engineers propose a process to generate one such additive, solketal, using waste from both biochemical and nuclear industries – termed a nuclear biorefinery.

Lancaster University PhD researcher Arran Plant said: “This research presents a new advance that utilises radiation that could, in the future, be derived from nuclear waste to produce renewable biofuel additives from biodiesel waste, which could then be used in modern petroleum fuel blends. With the renewable proportions of petroleum-derived fuels set to increase from 5 per cent to 20 per cent by 2030, fuel additives sourced this way could help address net-zero carbon emission targets.”

Malcolm Joyce, Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Lancaster University, said: “Co-generation with nuclear energy is an important area of current research, for example, using heat alongside the production of electricity.  We set out to determine whether radiation might also present a similar possibility, and discovered that it can: in this case yielding a low-carbon fuel additive.”

Dr Vesna Najdanovic, an expert in biofuels from Aston University, and previously at Lancaster University, said: “I am so excited about our work as it reveals a new method for processing wastes from biodiesel industry using spent nuclear energy. This green technology will pave the pathway to use waste as a resource to produce valuable chemicals and biofuels.”

Reliable, low-carbon energy from nuclear or biofuels is integral to many strategies to reduce carbon emissions, however nuclear plants have high upfront costs and the manufacture of biodiesel produces waste glycerol, which has few secondary uses.

Combining technologies to create raw materials from waste glycerol using ionising radiation could diversify nuclear energy use, and also make a valuable use of biodiesel waste.  

Researchers have discovered that leftover energy from spent nuclear fuel can be harnessed to produce a short-lived, radiation-induced catalyst. This catalyst facilitates a reaction that produces both solketal and acetol. This process forgoes the requirement for costly and energy-intensive steps such as pH changes, high temperatures, high pressures or additional catalytic reagents with negligible ongoing radiation-processing costs once fully set up.

Solketal is an emerging fuel additive that increases fuel octane numbers and reduces gum formation, consequently preventing irregular fuel combustion (knocking) and engine efficiency losses while also lowering particulate emissions. Meanwhile, acetol can be used in the production of other useful chemicals such as propylene glycol and furan derivatives, or as a dyeing agent for textile manufacturing.

Considering the scalability of this process to existing nuclear facilities within Europe (i.e. spent fuel pools or contemporary Pressurized Water Reactors), researchers have hypothesised that 104 tonnes per year of solketal could be generated by nuclear co-production. This would equate to significant quantities of usable fuel blend per year.

An increase of 5 per cent to 20 per cent v/v in the renewable proportion of commercial petroleum blends is forecast by 2030, and it was announced recently that E10 petrol will be adopted as the standard grade in the UK.  Nuclear-driven, biomass-derived solketal could contribute in this context towards net-zero emissions targets, combining low-carbon co-generation and co-production.

The research was carried out by Lancaster researchers Arran Plant and Professor Malcolm Joyce, along with Dr Vesna Najdanovic from Aston University, in collaboration with experts from the Jožef Stefan Institute - Reactor Physics Department in Slovenia. It was supported by Lancaster University, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Royal Society.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-021-00572-5

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JOURNAL

Communications Chemistry

DOI

10.1038/s42004-021-00572-5 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

‘Nuclear-driven production of renewable fuel additives from waste organics’

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Sep-2021

#MEDICAREFORALL

Opinion: 

Stacey Abrams: 'Callous' leadership in these states has left millions of Americans without health coverage

Opinion by Stacey Abrams for CNN Business Perspectives 1 hour ago

Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have witnessed inequities ripple across our society, particularly along racial and socioeconomic lines. Most tellingly, this imbalance affects frontline workers — many of whom are people of color — who put their lives and health on the line to keep our communities functioning while risking their families' well-being.

© Nathan Posner/Shutterstock Former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams speaks at a drive in rally for President Biden celebrating his 100 days in office, in Duluth, Georgia on April 29th, 2021.

Now, as Congress begins debating President Biden's plan to Build Back Better, we have the opportunity to help millions of these workers by permanently closing the Medicaid coverage gap, which would help reduce racial disparities in health care. While lawmakers are working in good faith to solve this crisis, our focus must be on whether they will opt for a temporary fix or for a more comprehensive, permanent solution that guarantees Medicaid coverage for Americans living in states that refuse to expand it. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce passed one such potential solution last week. Under that proposal, people in the coverage gap would be eligible for federal subsidies that would cover the cost of a private health care plan on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges before transitioning to a federal Medicaid fallback policy that would go into effect in 2025.

Currently, the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Medicaid expansion guarantees quality, affordable health coverage for nearly 15 million Americans in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Recognizing the proven financial and health benefits and underscoring its broad popularity, this extension of health coverage has been championed by Republican and Democratic governors alike and won through voter referendums at the ballot box in Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Utah.

More than a decade after the ACA's passage, however, 12 states stubbornly refuse to implement the full expansion — intentionally denying access to affordable health care coverage to nearly 2.2 million low-income Americans. Leaders in these states argue that expansion is too costly, ignoring the reimbursements the federal government provides for expanding Medicaid. Eight of these non-expansion states are located in the South. And 60% of people who fall in the coverage gap are people of color, despite people of color making up just 41% of the nonelderly adult population in non-expansion states. That is why leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus have called permanently closing the Medicaid coverage gap "one of the single most important steps we can take to reduce racial health inequities across the United States."

Under the American Rescue Plan passed by Congress earlier this year, these 12 recalcitrant states have been offered incentives to do right by their people and expand Medicaid, but their callous leadership, including that of my home state of Georgia, puts politics over health. Even as our families and our providers struggle through a persisting pandemic and vitally needed hospitals close, they refuse to act. Sadly, it seems they fear backlash from their political parties more than they fear the consequences of non-expansion.

This comes at a cost not just to health care providers, but also to low-income people in the coverage gap who end up struggling with higher medical debt. Taxpayers and medical facilities, especially rural hospitals, are left footing the bill for uncompensated care.

Well beyond the financial consequences, the coverage gap has led to thousands fewer early-stage cancer diagnoses and the loss of tens of thousands of lives each year. Due to systemic racism, communities of color have just a small fraction of the wealth held by White Americans, and they suffer from higher rates of chronic diseases, like diabetes and hypertension. The coverage gap only exacerbates these longstanding disparities in health and wealth.

Throughout my legislative career, and now through my work with the Southern Economic Advancement Project, I have fought for Medicaid expansion in the South, a region with the greatest health challenges and the deepest refusal among elected leaders to meet the needs of our people. We have provided the research and partnered with advocates throughout the South to amplify their calls to action.

As the daughter of two pastors, my faith guides me to believe that policymakers' obligations should center on those who are the most vulnerable among us — the poor, the sick, the disabled. By permanently and comprehensively closing the coverage gap, Congress can show that they truly do value the contributions that home health workers, sanitation workers, cashiers, early educators, food service employees, retail and construction workers and others make to keep our society operating day in and day out, pandemic or no pandemic.

One person without adequate health care coverage is one too many. Nearly 2.2 million is a disgrace. We need Congress to act to finally extend coverage to our fellow Americans whose partisan state lawmakers have denied them justice and equity for too long.