AMS Awarded DOE SBIR Phase I and Phase II Grants
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Nov. 9, 2021) — Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation (AMS), a Knoxville‑based market leader in testing the instrumentation and control systems of nuclear power plants worldwide, has been awarded a Phase I research project as well as a Phase II continuation project through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The $200,000 Phase I project is the company’s 35th Phase I research grant and will be led by Dr. Will Ferrell, a Materials and Research Engineer at AMS. The research will focus on developing test methods for sensors embedded in nuclear reactor components during the manufacturing or “3D-printing” process. These technologies are critical to ensuring that advanced nuclear reactors including micro-modular reactors operate safely and efficiently. This research builds upon AMS’s extensive experience in testing instrumentation within traditional power plants.
The $1,100,000 Phase II project is the company’s 27th Phase II research grant and will be led by Mr. Brent Shumaker, a Senior Engineering Manager at AMS. This research will be a continuation of the successful Phase I project where AMS demonstrated the feasibility of developing an online monitoring (OLM) system for critical structures, systems, and components of microreactors to enable autonomous operations. During this phase of the project, AMS was able to use machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to identify data anomalies and perform diagnostics, resulting in a conceptual design for an OLM system for microreactor. During the second phase of this project, AMS engineers will work on expanding the capabilities of this technologies and constructing a prototype OLM system for microreactors.