Solaris Compute Grid Powers Next Generation Nuclear Reactor Design (Idaho National Lab )

The Department of Energy and Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced the development of a high performance computer cluster at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The solution includes more than 230 Sun Fire V20z servers powered by AMD Opteron processors, and more than 12 Terabytes of Sun StorEdge 6320 storage, the Solaris 9 Operating System, Sun Java Enterprise System and Java development software, Sun Grid Engine Enterprise Edition, Sun's StarOffice 7.0 office productivity platform, as well as advanced on-site training and support from Sun's Services division. The cluster's full-throttle computing power ranks the INEEL datacenter as one of the world's top 150 supercomputing sites.

"This agreement will vault INEEL into a position among the world's top high performance computing sites and offers the ability to complete two trillion floating-point operations in a one-second heartbeat," said Bill Magwood, Director of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy. "Sun's grid computing cluster will provide our professionals the computing resources they need for next-generation nuclear reactor design."

Sun's Solaris-based grid computing cluster solution dramatically advances the compute power for Idaho's national laboratory and will enable INEEL professionals to directly support the engineering resources needed on a very large scale for the design of the Department of Energy's Generation IV nuclear reactors. This capability is essential in the demanding collaboration environment required among the 11 partners contributing to Generation IV design efforts.

"The days of expensive mainframes spread across acres of facilities are behind us, as leading labs like INEEL show the way to supercomputing prowess built on ready-to-deploy, industry-standard Sun Fire servers running the Solaris OS," said Clark Masters, Executive Vice President, Global Government Office, Sun Microsystems. "Sun's leadership in high performance computing is rooted in a long history of innovative designs and technologies aimed squarely as this market. Our military-grade Solaris operating system running on industry standard platforms, combined with Sun's market-leading grid computing management tools, provide an open, unbeatable platform for price and flexibility."

INEEL Laboratory Director Paul Kearns said, "This computer enhancement is part of our longer-term plan of increasing the Laboratory's computer capabilities to support the collaboration with our Generation IV partners. We are combining this lease with $543,000 of funding from Bechtel's Corporate Funded Research and Development program to develop a collaborative engineering and research model as a key part of the Generation IV research. It also will support research and development efforts in all areas of our multi-program national laboratory, including energy, national security, environment and other key technologies."

The Solaris-based grid computing cluster solution was financed through the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule provided through Sun Microsystems Finance. The GSA allows government customers such as the DOE and INEEL to finance Sun solutions with a convenient monthly payment plan that requires no negotiation. The total value of the INEEL solution is $1.97 million over 3-years.

The Generation IV nuclear energy systems initiative was started by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology which engaged governments, industry, and research communities worldwide to develop the Generation IV International Forum (GIF), a group whose member countries-Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Euratom, France, Japan, Republic of South Africa, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States-are interested in jointly defining the future of nuclear energy research and development.

In operation since 1949, the INEEL is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy's missions in energy, environment, science and national security. It is operated by Bechtel BWXT for the Department of Energy and for more information visit www.inel.gov.

Nuclear and Energy Systems Engineering
INEEL's role as Nuclear Energy Lead Laboratory
- Key to revitalizing nuclear energy in the U.S.

In 1999, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (DOE-NE) designated the INEEL and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) as lead laboratories for Nuclear Reactor Technology. Over the past 50 years, the INEEL and ANL have been world leaders in nuclear technology research and development (R&D).

In the summer of 2002, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced the INEEL will serve as the nation's premier nuclear technology center. The lead laboratories are chartered to:

Maintain world-class staff and key facilities to pursue advanced nuclear reactor technology,
Maintain a living knowledge base,
Evaluate and integrate the results of R&D and propose new research,
Stay abreast of developments associated with nuclear energy-related research, and
Organize national and international forums to address key issues.

The lead laboratories were chosen for their complementary expertise and facilities: INEEL has extensive expertise in light water and gas-cooled nuclear systems, design, development, and testing. INEEL serves needs for nuclear regulatory and safety technical support, probabilistic risk analysis, nuclear engineering and design, nuclear fuels development and testing, and radiation measurements. ANL has extensive expertise in liquid metal-cooled reactors and fuel cycle analysis. ANL serves needs for safety analysis, nuclear engineering and design, fuels and fuel cycle development, and non-proliferation. Both lead laboratories have a strong international presence and are actively supporting DOE-NE's three strategic goals:

Research and Development. Promote the R&D necessary to advance applications of nuclear technologies that improve U.S. energy security, economic vitality, and quality of life.
Infrastructure and Resource Management. Manage the nuclear infrastructure, isotopic inventories, and human resources entrusted to DOE-NE.
Quality Products and Services. Provide reliable and high quality products and services that are responsive to customer needs.

Current activities of the lead labs are:

Generation IV. Two major successes have been achieved in creating a next generation nuclear energy system to serve U.S. and world needs through the next century:
- Technology Roadmapping. INEEL and ANL provided technical and program management support to DOE-NE in developing plans for a technology roadmap that includes extensive industry and international participation. The roadmap analyzes and formulates R&D programs for a number of promising reactor concepts. Significant accomplishments were the organization of the project from diverse domestic and international views, integrating the program with existing advisory groups and expertise, and drafting preliminary goals for Generation IV that provide substantial advantages for nuclear energy.
- International Forum. INEEL and ANL have organized and supported DOE-NE's Generation IV International Forum. The Forum is composed of ten countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States) who have proclaimed their desire for Generation IV and the collaborative R&D needed to achieve it.
Advanced Test Reactor User Facility Plan. INEEL has developed a User Facility Plan for its Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) to enhance INEEL's capabilities to meet future research needs and attract researchers and projects with national and international recognition. This plan was peer-reviewed by potential sponsors and other user facility operators, and was praised by DOE and potential users. At this point, a level of base funding is needed to complete several applications for new user facilities based on the ATR.
DOE Advisory Committee Participation. INEEL provided substantial support to key DOE advisory committees. INEEL has members on the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC) and the Fusion Energy Sciences Research Advisory Committee (FESAC). INEEL's involvement in NERAC activities included key technical support to its Isotope Research and Production Planning Subcommittee, extensive efforts to assist the Long-Term R&D Planning Subcommittee with writing its R&D Plan, support and analysis for Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID) staff for the Technical Opportunities for Proliferation-Resistant Systems (TOPS) Subcommittee, and key technical support to the NERAC Infrastructure Roadmapping Subcommittee. The lead laboratories also gave extensive assistance in developing DOE-NE's strategic plans.
Nuclear Education Programs. DOE-ID and INEEL manage three of eight nuclear university programs within DOE: the Nuclear Engineering Education and Research (NEER) program, the University Reactor Instrumentation (URI) program, and the University Fuel Assistance program.
NERI. The INEEL is participating in five Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) projects that explore cutting-edge R&D of new reactor technologies. NERI is an actively growing part of the DOE-NE R&D budget. $7M of that amount is earmarked for a new thrust in international R&D collaborations. INEEL is well positioned to support this thrust.
Nuclear Infrastructure PEIS Support. INEEL and DOE-ID have supported the development of a Nuclear Infrastructure Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) by the DOE.
Other Initiatives. Two cooperative agreements between Russia and the U.S. are being finalized. The INEEL's lead role in the National Spent Fuel Management Program should position it to play a key role. One agreement is development of spent fuel storage and waste repository options to allow Russia to stop its current practice of reprocessing civilian nuclear fuels. The second is development of proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technologies.

The next ten years are crucial for nuclear energy in the U.S. Prior administration's policies have been to maintain nuclear energy as a viable option for the future without aggressive goals for performance improvements or new plant orders. Meanwhile, nuclear energy has weathered the uncertainties of electricity deregulation and existing plants have become a preferred investment with improved economic performance at virtually all plants and successful license extensions planned for many. At the same time, the growing realization of global warming has rekindled a serious need to deploy clean energy options on a global scale.

To meet the challenge of global warming, nuclear must advance from a viable to an actively deployed option in the world, and on a scale sufficient decrease carbon emissions. All indications are that the promise of clean, efficient nuclear energy can be realized by the renewed exploration of both traditional and non-traditional nuclear systems to discover revolutionary new advances. Nevertheless, several difficult hurdles, which cannot be ignored, remain. One is disposition of nuclear waste; the other is public distrust regarding all aspects of nuclear energy.

Prof. Jim Duderstadt, NERAC Chairman, has voiced the most pressing needs for the future of revitalized nuclear energy in terms of three basic factors: the ideas, people and tools needed to build the future.

Ideas. Vigorous R&D programs are needed in nuclear energy. Current programs such as NERI are the birthing place for next generation technologies and need to be increased above current levels. A new Generation IV R&D program is needed in FY-2003 following the successful roadmap activities that will identify the most promising candidates for exploration.

People. Substantial investments are needed in the broad spectrum of existing university nuclear programs, as well as into preserving the knowledge base at the national laboratories and building the scientific research staff. A new program aimed at creating a living knowledge base is proposed by the lead laboratories. The program would feature the development of a core of key young staff at national laboratories who assist with the restoration and validation of valuable program data and who create a new, updated archives, summaries and comparisons that are of considerable value to researchers and their programs.

Tools. A task as large as revitalizing nuclear energy requires a renewed R&D investment in facilities following a time of relatively slack budgets for the U.S. nuclear energy infrastructure. It is widely acknowledged that facilities that can test, develop and demonstrate thermal and fast reactor technology over a wide range of fuel, coolant and power conversion options will be needed. ANL has recently had the termination account for its fast reactor program recast into a nuclear infrastructure account. INEEL needs to have a similar recasting of its landlord account, with an increase that can enable the creation of several user facilities based on the ATR that will serve growing needs for fuels development and testing stemming from Generation IV.

Contact:

Ralph Bennett, Director
208-526-7708
rcb@inel.gov

Building upon its legacy responsibilities, infrastructure and expertise — and as directed by the Secretary of Energy — the INEEL's nuclear energy mission is to develop advanced nuclear technologies that provide clean, abundant, affordable and reliable energy to the United States and the world. We support our government's role in leading the revitalization of the nation's nuclear power industry and re-establishing U.S. world leadership in nuclear science and technology.

When sponsorship of the INEEL was formally transferred to the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology by Secretary Spencer Abraham in a July 2002 speech, specific roles and responsibilities were assigned to Idaho's national laboratory in the areas of Generation IV nuclear power systems, advanced fuel cycles and enabling technologies, systems and practices.

These new assignments came, in part, as acknowledgement of the INEEL's unique status as the DOE site that designed and constructed 52 reactors since its establishment in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station. For many years, it was the site of the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world. Notable among these Idaho reactors were Experimental Breeder Reactor I, the first reactor to generate usable electricity from nuclear power, the U.S. Navy's first prototype nuclear propulsion plant and the world's most capable test reactor, the Advanced Test Reactor. more..

The INEEL has the history, infrastructure, expertise and commitment to collaborate broadly — characteristics required to fulfill our assigned role as the nation's center for nuclear energy research and development. We also have the expertise, infrastructure and strategic partnerships necessary to advance the state of the art in:

Nuclear safety analysis
Irradiation services
Nuclear operations
Management of spent nuclear fuel
Biocorrosion of fuels

For more information or to join us in the quest for nuclear energy excellence, contact any of the individuals below.

Primary contacts:

Dr. James Lake
Assoc. Lab. Director
Nuclear Energy
(208) 526-7670
lakeja@inel.gov

Dr. Ralph Bennett
Director
Nuclear Energy Programs
208-526-7708
rcb@inel.gov

Tim Leahy
Director
Nuclear Safety and Regulations
208-526-4944
tjl2@inel.gov

Dr. Kathryn McCarthy
Director
Nuclear Science and Engineering
208-526-9392
km3@inel.gov

General inquiries:
Nuclear Energy Communications, energy@inel.gov


					Updated: Friday, December 05, 2003 For general inquiries about the INEEL, please call 1-800-708-2680. © 2004 Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC. All rights reserved. Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC is an EEO/AA employer. Feedback

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