Argonne partners with Idaho National Laboratory for innovative long-duration energy storage project
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL), along with DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, was chosen by the agency for a demonstration project to validate an innovative long-duration energy storage system developed by battery manufacturer CMBlu Energy. The collaborative project aims to improve microgrids in cold climates and make fast charging of electric vehicles more affordable in underserved communities.
Over the course of the project, INL and Argonne will deploy and evaluate CMBlu Energy’s Organic SolidFlow™ battery technology. The materials used in the construction of these batteries are non-metallic and abundant, with a goal to build resilient and domestic supply chains. The batteries are targeted for community, industrial and utility-scale applications of medium and long duration.
The DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations selected this initiative as one of six demonstration projects in September 2023 as part of a long-duration energy storage lab call. The project is expected to start in 2024 and span three years.
DOE ‘summer school’ trains early-career nuclear scientists, engineers
Two of Idaho’s research institutes join annually with Argonne and others to sponsor the Modeling, Experimentation and Validation (MeV) Summer School. The event invites early-career nuclear scientists and engineers worldwide to learn about and explore the latest findings in nuclear science and engineering.
The MeV faculty comprise technical leaders from U.S. national laboratories, universities, government, business and international partners.
Founded in 2009, MeV is a collaboration of Argonne and DOE’s Idaho and Oak Ridge national laboratories, Idaho State University and the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. The three national laboratories take turns hosting MeV; Idaho National Laboratory will host the event in 2020.
Argonne partners with Idaho National Laboratory to build nuclear reactor
Idaho National Laboratory, in conjunction with Argonne and other partners, is leading the DOE’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) project. The first such construction project in the United States in several decades, the new test nuclear reactor will enable irradiation testing at much higher neutron intensity than currently available.
The nuclear industry has expressed interest in new advanced reactor concepts that the VTR could soon be supporting. This project marks the first step in paving the way for future innovative reactor designs and will help accelerate the testing of advanced nuclear fuels, materials, instrumentation and sensors. VTR will provide the test capability using a pool-type, sodium-cooled metal-alloy-fueled reactor technology that uses experience with similar designs in the U.S.
Argonne leads the VTR core design and safety analysis and supports project management leadership. Other project partners include DOE’s Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Savannah River national laboratories as well as a host of industry and university partners. Completion is planned for 2026.