Projects

Fukushima: JAEA-LBNL Collaboration on Repository Geoscience and Technology Development

• Environmental Remediation and Water Resources
• Nuclear Energy and Waste

In the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan in 2011, LBNL-EESA and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) have collaborated to develop numerical methodologies for understanding and predicting the long-term transport of radionuclides within and among different surface-environmental compartments (farmland and forest soils, water bodies, soil pore water and groundwater systems) in Japan. This research, initiated in June 2014, also contributes to the R&D activities related to environmental remediation and decommissioning after the accident.

Jens Birkholzer jtbirkholzer@lbl.gov 510-486-7134

Carl I. Steefel cisteefel@lbl.gov 510-502-3660

Haruko Murakami Wainwright hmwainwright@lbl.gov 510-495-2038

Generic Disposal R&D

• Nuclear Energy and Waste

The objective of this activity is to develop a methodology and toolsets for integrating complex, coupled models (such as THMC or THC) into the GDSA model for evaluating disposal system performance for nuclear waste. Because the GDSA model is designed for the entire repository with a thousand emplacement tunnels, a systematic methodology is needed on how to simplify some coupled processes/parameters.

Haruko Murakami Wainwright hmwainwright@lbl.gov 510-495-2038

Geo-TES Project

• Geothermal Systems

The Geologic Thermal Energy Storage (GeoTES) Project involves three main components: (1) Convert excess electricity to hot water and pump it into a deep sedimentary reservoir, (2) Store the thermal energy in the subsurface, and (3) When needed, recover hot water for energy generation or direct use applications.

Private: Nicolas Spycher nspycher@lbl.gov 510-495-2388

Christine Doughty cadoughty@lbl.gov 510-486-6453

Patrick F. Dobson pfdobson@lbl.gov 510-486-5373

Geophysical detection and monitoring of fluids, faults and coupled processes in the earth’s crust

• Fundamental Geosciences

The overall goal of this research is to understand in a quantitative way the coupling between flow and deformation and damage so that measurements of the deformation and damage along with changes in geophysical rock properties may be used to determine where the fluid is flowing and what processes the flow is provoking.

Private: Steven R. Pride srpride@lbl.gov 510-495-2823

Ground-Motion Analysis and Soil-Structure-Interaction (SSI) Modeling

• Nuclear Energy and Waste

LBNL-ESD researchers are currently supporting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's need for further technical information about a set of related technical topics. The main objective of the project is to develop the technical basis for new NRC staff guidance to applicants and licensees on critical issues related to the seismic analysis and design of new nuclear power plants (NPPs), in the broad area of time-domain soil-structure-interaction (SSI) modeling.

Robert Jay Budnitz rjbudnitz@lbl.gov 510-486-7829

High-Resolution Imaging of Geothermal Flow Paths Using a Cost-Effective Dense Seismic Network (CEC-EPIC)

• Geothermal Systems

Objective: Develop an advanced, low-cost, automated tomographic imaging system that uses micro-earthquakes and a dense network of portable, low-cost seismic sensors to form high spatial and temporal resolution images of subsurface fluid flow, including flow conduits, barriers and heterogeneity in producing geothermal fields...

Seiji Nakagawa snakagawa@lbl.gov 510-486-7894

Susan Sprinkle ssprinkle@lbl.gov 510-486-6372

HydroEcological Engineering Advanced Decision Support (HEADS)

The scientific mission of the HydroEcological Engineering Advanced Decision Support (HEADS) research group within the Earth Sciences Division at Berkeley National Laboratory is to develop techniques, technologies and computer-based decision support systems to enhance environmental monitoring, modeling and management.

Nigel William Trevelyan Quinn nwquinn@lbl.gov 510-486-7056

IDEAS: Computational Challenges in Building Virtual Terrestrial Ecosystems

• Environmental Remediation and Water Resources

EESA’s Genomes-to-Watershed and NGEE-Arctic projects seek to take advantage of new scientific software capabilities by incorporating a recently initiated DOE-Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)–BER-funded project, entitled Interoperable Design of Extreme-Scale Application Software (IDEAS). This project pursues the development and demonstration of new approaches for producing, using, and supporting scientific software. It will establish methodologies and tools that facilitate delivery of software as reusable, interoperable components.

Carl I. Steefel cisteefel@lbl.gov 510-502-3660

Impact of Biochar Amendments on Soil Water and Plant Dynamics under different climatic years and agronomic practices

• Carbon Removal & Mineralization Program

Negative carbon emissions from agricultural soils have been stressed as important but yet understudied piece to combat climate change. Similarly, the inclusion of waste-derived material, such as biochar in crop production is viewed as a natural climatic solution to mitigate CO₂ emissions in addition to promoting soil health. These positive benefits of biochar are attributed...

Bhavna Arora barora@lbl.gov 510-495-2163

Imperial Valley Dark Fiber Project

• Geothermal Systems

This project seeks to explore the use of fiber optic sensing, particularly distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), to seismically characterize geothermal systems at the basin scale in California’s Imperial Valley.

Patrick F. Dobson pfdobson@lbl.gov 510-486-5373

Jonathan Ajo-Franklin jbajo-franklin@lbl.gov 510-495-2728

Michelle Robertson mcrobertson@lbl.gov 510-486-5096

Verónica Rodriguez Tribaldos vrodrigueztribaldos@lbl.gov 510-292-1976

Avinash Nayak anayak7@lbl.gov 510-486-6658