Small Increase In Temperature Research Articles

Identifying climate‐smart tropical Key Biodiversity Areas for protection in response to widespread temperature novelty

AbstractKey Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are a cornerstone of 21st‐century area‐based conservation targets. In tropical KBAs, biodiversity is potentially at high risk from climate change, because most species reside within or beneath the canopy, where small increases in temperature can lead to novel climate regimes. We quantify novelty in temperature regimes by modeling hourly temperatures below the forest canopy across tropical KBAs between 1990 and 2019. We find that up to 66% of KBAs with tropical forests have recently transitioned to novel temperature regimes. Nevertheless, 34% of KBAs are providing refuge from novelty, 58% of which are not protected. By conducting the first pan‐tropical analyses of changes in below‐canopy temperature conditions in KBAs, we identify KBAs that are acting as climate refugia and should be considered for expansion of the conservation network in response to the post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework target to conserve 30% of land area by 2030.

Lightning activity in India an important cause of increase in fatalities

With Recent increase in deaths due to lightning activity in India we are posed with a question - are these fatalities related to increase in the lightning activity owing to climate change? The IPCC report (2013) projects global warming of 1-5 °C by the end of 21st Century. The global warming is closely related to increased concentration of greenhouse gases. Previous studies have shown that on different temporal and spatial scales small increases in surface temperature leads to increase in thunderstorm and lightning activity. The lightning induced deaths are on the rise especially in the tropical south Asia and Africa but IPCC report does not explicitly deals with lightning activity and its future projection. Studies on this aspect become all the more important as the subgrid scale phenomena such as convective clouds and hence lightning are poorly resolved and taken in to account by climate models. In order to address this issue we have analyzed trends of lightning activity, surface temperature, upper tropospheric water vapour, cloud ice, Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and aerosols. We also present correlation of these parameters with lightning activity using lightning flash rate data of Lightning Imaging Sensor aboard TRMM, TRMM Level -2 Precipitation Radar data, gridded temperature data of IMD, aerosol data acquired by MODIS. The result indicates that upper tropospheric temperature rise is more than surface temperature rise. This imply stable atmosphere with fewer thunderstorms. The increased convection transports additional water vapour into upper troposphere. The water vapour acts as green house has by absorbing infrared radiation emitted by the surface of the Earth. This results in more warming in the upper troposphere than at the surface and stabilizing of the atmosphere. However, results also show that within the thunderstorm the instability measured by CAPE is positively correlated with lightning activity. This paradox of stabilization of global mean atmosphere with increase in lighting activity leads us to conclude that tough thunderstorm activity has subdued but those develop are much more explosive producing more lightning activity and perhaps lead to more fatalities.

Microfluidic fabrication of compound microfibers encapsulating nano-enhanced phase change material (PCM) for thermal regulation

This study presents a microfluidic approach for fabrication of compound phase change fibers (CPCFs) encapsulating nano-enhanced phase change material (PCM), RT25, for thermal regulation. The produced fibers are flexible and have strong compatibility and durable stability, with their size and the proportion of PCM can be precisely controlled by the microfluidic approach. Especially, a hydroxy surface modification method was used to uniformly disperse SiO2 nanoparticles into the RT25, aiming to enhance the thermal regulation performance of the CPCFs. Thermal performance test was conducted and it indicated that, compared with the compound phase change fiber (CPCF) with pure RT25, the CPCF incorporated with 2 wt% SiO2 nanoparticles presented a notable increase in thermal conductivity by 46.52 % and 45.51 % for solid-state and liquid-state enclosed PCM with a limited reduction in both melting and solidification enthalpies by 9.21 % and 10.1 %, respectively. Moreover, an experiment simulating the heat dissipation scenario of the electronic cabinet under intermittent running with short operation and long rest was conducted by using the CPCFs. It showed that adding SiO2 nanoparticles can improve the heat absorption process (solid-to-liquid phase) via the CPCFs with a smaller temperature increase (i.e., the maximum temperature of simulated inner electronic device in the cabinet for the repeated intermittent running) and it is also able to make the CPCFs renew (liquid-to-solid phase) more quickly and ready for heat absorption process in the next cycle. These CPCFs offer a promising alternative for more efficient and sustainable thermal management of the electrical/electronic equipment.

The give and take of Arctic greening: differential responses of the carbon sink-to-source threshold to light and temperature in tussock tundra may be influenced by vegetation cover

A significant warming effect on arctic tundra is greening. Although this increase in predominantly woody vegetation has been linked to increases in gross primary productivity, increasing temperatures also stimulate ecosystem respiration. We present a novel analysis from small-scale plot measurements showing that the shape of the temperature- and light-dependent sink-to-source threshold (where net ecosystem exchange (NEE) equals zero) differs between two tussock tundra ecosystems differing in leaf area index (LAI). At the higher LAI site, the threshold is exceeded (i.e the ecosystem becomes a source) at relatively higher temperatures under low light but at lower temperatures under high light. At the lower LAI site, the threshold is exceeded at relatively lower temperatures under low light but at higher temperatures under high light. We confirmed this response at a single site where LAI was experimentally increased. This suggests the carbon balance of the tundra may be sensitive to small increases in temperature under low light, but that this effect may be significantly offset by increases in LAI. Importantly, we found that this LAI effect is reversed under high light, and so in a warming tundra, greater vegetation cover could have a progressively negative effect on net carbon uptake.

Effect of magnetic needle magnetic particle grinding process on the performance of metal aluminum plates

Magnetic needle grinding processing technology is one of the magnetic grinding processing techniques. It possesses the characteristics of micro-cutting removal, small increase in processing temperature, flexible processing, high-quality, and high-precision processing. It is mainly utilized to remove burrs at the edge of the workpiece and the edge of the hole, as well as to finish the surface of the workpiece. It is frequently employed in civil, aerospace, navigation, and other fields. Due to the randomness and complexity of magnetic needle movement in magnetic abrasive finishing, it is difficult to quantify the processing parameters and predict processing effects. Therefore, this paper establishes a simulation model of magnetic needle in magnetic abrasive finishing by the coupling numerical simulation method of fluid dynamics discrete element method (CFD-DEM) to analyze the working state parameters of the magnetic needle. Through the simulation of actual working conditions, the machining process and parameters of magnetic abrasive finishing are quantified and analyzed, and the motion trend of magnetic needles during the machining process is studied. Then, the residual stress of single magnetic needle impact is analyzed with ABAQUS, and the performance enhancement of the workpiece is predicted. Finally, observations of surface morphology and validation of residual stress prediction were conducted through experiments on an aluminum plate. The results show that the residual stress of the aluminum plate is positively correlated with the number of strikes of the magnetic needle. The residual stress changes from tensile stress (+0.1 MPa) to compressive stress (-16.5 MPa). The comparison between simulation results and experimental results is good, indicating that the simulation model can comprehensively consider multiple factors such as magnetic field, particle motion, and fluid flow, and establish a magnetic needle magnetic grinding process model that is suitable for actual working conditions.

Novel temperatures are already widespread beneath the world’s tropical forest canopies

Tropical forest biodiversity is potentially at high risk from climate change, but most species reside within or below the canopy, where they are buffered from extreme temperatures. Here, by modelling the hourly below-canopy climate conditions of 300,000 tropical forest locations globally between 1990 and 2019, we show that recent small increases in below-canopy temperature (<1 °C) have led to highly novel temperature regimes across most of the tropics. This is the case even within contiguous forest, suggesting that tropical forests are sensitive to climate change. However, across the globe, some forest areas have experienced relatively non-novel temperature regimes and thus serve as important climate refugia that require urgent protection and restoration. This pantropical analysis of changes in below-canopy climatic conditions challenges the prevailing notion that tropical forest canopies reduce the severity of climate change impacts.

Circular Fluid Heating—Transient Entropy Generation

A technical issue with fluid flow heating is the relatively small temperature increase as the fluid passes through the heating surface. The fluid does not spend enough time inside the heating source to significantly raise its temperature, despite the heating source itself experiencing a substantial increase. To address this challenge, the concept of the multiple circular heating of air was developed, forming the basis of this work. Two PTC heaters with longitudinal fins are located within a closed channel inside housing composed of a thermal insulation material. Air flows circularly from one finned surface to another. Analytical modeling and experimental testing were used in the analysis, with established restrictions and boundary conditions. An important outcome of the analysis was the methodology established for the optimization of the geometric and process parameters based on minimizing the transient thermal entropy. In conducting the analytical modeling, the temperature of the PTC heater was assumed to be constant at 150 °C and 200 °C. By removing the restrictions and adjusting the boundary conditions, the established methodology for the analysis and optimization of various thermally transient industrial processes can be applied more widely. The experimental determination of the transient thermal entropy was performed at a much higher air flow rate of 0.005 m3s−1 inside the closed channel. The minimum transient entropy also indicates the optimal time for the opening of the channel, allowing the heated air to exit. The novelty of this work lies in the controlled circular heating of the fluid and the establishment of the minimum transient thermal entropy as an optimization criterion.

Characterization of temperature and humidity effects on extreme heat stress under global warming and urban growth in the Pearl and Yangtze River Deltas of China

With global warming accelerating, the heavily populated and rapidly urbanized coastal regions of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) stand as representative areas with mounting concerns about extreme heat stress. This study analyzes differentiated effects of temperature (TAS) and relative humidity (RH) on human heat stress measured by wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) in those urban regions based on machine learning and mathematical derivation, while also examining the impacts of global warming and urbanization on prospective heat risks. To generate fine-scale climate projections targeted at the PRD and YRD, two global projections forced by Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenario are dynamically downscaled using non-hydrostatic Regional Climate Model version 4.7 (RegCM4), with the urban density and extent updated every year based on Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 5-8.5 (SSP5) scenario, thereby incorporating the transient urban growth into future projections. The bias-corrected downscaled simulations effectively capture the distinct interdependencies between TAS and RH on WBGT across different regions, similar to the observed patterns during the historical period. While the absolute contribution of TAS to WBGT is larger than RH regardless of warming levels and regions, the relative increase in RH becomes more pronounced with warming. Under RCP8.5 scenario, unprecedentedly extreme WBGT is projected to emerge in the far future (2080–2099). In contrast, the effect of urbanization appears to be more dominant in the near future (2030–2049) as urban density under SSP5 scenario is projected to peak around the 2040s and gradually decrease afterwards. The reduction of RH is found in the intensely urbanized areas locally, but it does not significantly lower WBGT because the positive contribution of increased TAS is more dominant. As a result, highly urbanized regions still exhibit higher WBGT compared to other areas. In addition, urban heat island effect is more pronounced for compact areas with high urban density (i.e., PRD) and at night. Despite the smaller temperature increase from urban heat island effect compared to global warming, it can play a critical role in exacerbating heat stress, adding to the already dangerous humid and hot conditions.

Nonlinear Kinetic Inductance Sensor

The concept of nonlinear kinetic inductance sensor (NKIS) of electromagnetic radiation is proposed. The idea is based on divergency of kinetic inductanceLk∼dq/dI(ℏqis a momentum of superconducting electrons,Iis a supercurrent) of hybrid superconductor/normal metal (SN) bridge at currentI*Idep(Idepis a depairing current of the hybrid) and temperatureT* much smaller than critical temperatureTc. It makes possible to have large change of phase differenceδϕalong SN bridge in current biased regime atI≃I*even for small electron temperature increase. Appearance ofδϕis accompanied by the change of the current and magnetic flux through the coupled superconducting ring which could be measured with help of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). In some respect proposed sensor may be considered as a superconducting counterpart of transition edge sensor (TES) those work is based on large derivativedR/dT(Ris a resistance) nearTc. Because atI≃I*SN bridge is in gapless regime there is no low boundary for frequency of detected electromagnetic radiation. Our calculations show that such a sensor can operate in single photon regime and detect single photons with frequencyν≳10 GHz. We argue that the nontrivial dependenceI(q)of SN bridge could be also used in detectors of continuous electromagnetic radiation, current and magnetic field sensors.

Regenerative strategies of Euterpe edulis (Arecaceae) at its altitudinal limits in the Atlantic Forest

AbstractPopulations occurring at the limit of a species' altitudinal distribution undergo strong environmental filtering. Rapid climate change intensifies this process, impacting ecological responses of populations. Understanding the effects of climate change, especially in the early stages of plant development, has become essential to predict vulnerability to extinction. However, few studies have explored initial establishment strategies of plant populations at the limit of their distribution in the face of global warming. We tested the effects of increasing temperatures on germination performance and on initial seedling establishment on two populations of Euterpe edulis, a palm tree widely distributed in the Atlantic Forest between 0 and 1400 m altitude. The tests were conducted in a laboratory, where the seeds were exposed to three conditions for 90 days: control at 25°C, and two treatments at higher temperatures (35 and 40°C). Germination percentage was not affected by population, seed size class or treatments. Average time for germination only increased in the Montane Forest population in the most extreme treatment, while in the sea level Restinga population, time for germination was affected by a small temperature increase. Mortality percentage in the Restinga population was similar in the post‐germination phase and in the temperature treatments. We concluded that E. edulis populations located at their lower altitudinal limit are closer to the species thermal limit, thus being more vulnerable to temperature increase than populations at the upper limit of the species' altitudinal distribution.

Small corrections to 1989 NIST constant-volume gas thermometry data

Constant-volume gas thermometry data published in 1989 for the difference between the thermodynamic temperature and the International Practical Temperature Scale of 1968 are corrected in two ways. A refined estimate of the thermal expansivity of the material of the gas bulb, published in 1990, increases the thermodynamic temperature by amounts on the order of 1 mK–3 mK. Better knowledge of the nonideality of helium gas reduces the uncertainty of the nonideality correction to near zero and decreases the thermodynamic temperature by amounts on the order of 0.1 mK–0.5 mK. The net effect is a small increase in the thermodynamic temperature derived from the 1989 experiments. The magnitude of this increase is approximately 2 mK at 505 K, increasing to 3 mK at temperatures near 700 K, and then diminishing to near 0.5 mK at the highest temperature of the measurements (933 K). These corrections are smaller than the uncertainty of the experiments, but may be of significance for future recommendations for the relationship between the thermodynamic temperature and the consensus scale in this temperature range.

INTERACTIVE EFFECTS OF INCREASED NESTBOX TEMPERATURE AND VITAMIN E ON NESTLING GROWTH ARE ATTENUATED BY PLASTICITY IN FEMALE INCUBATION EFFORT.

In recent years, temperatures have increased globally, and nestlings of many bird species are likely regularly exposed to increased temperatures both pre- and postnatally. Even small increases in nest temperature during incubation affect offspring growth and survival in a variety of species, one cause of which is thought to be increased production of prooxidants in embryos and nestlings. Defences marshalled in response to this oxidative stress could, in turn, result in trade-offs that lead to reduced survival or growth. If so, any downstream negative effects on nestlings of increased ambient temperatures during incubation could be counteracted by increasing their antioxidant intake. We predicted, therefore, that dietary supplements of an antioxidant would reduce or eliminate any detrimental effects on nestling growth and survival of experimentally increased nest temperature during the incubation period. We employed a split-brood design in which we increased nest temperature of entire clutches and, after hatching, provided dietary supplements of the antioxidant vitamin E to half of the nestlings within broods. We also recorded female incubation and provisioning behaviour to control for the possibility that heating nests might also influence maternal behaviour. There was a significant interaction between nestbox heating treatment and vitamin E treatment in their effect on nestling mass, a trait that is positively correlated with survival and future reproductive success in the study population. Vitamin E supplementation promoted increased nestling mass in heated nests, whereas it had the opposite effect in control nests, but these effects were weak. Heating significantly affected female incubation behaviour, with females in heated nestboxes investing less in incubation than those in unheated boxes. These results suggest that within at least some range of expected increased ambient temperatures during the 21st century, effects of climate change on nestling bird development can be mitigated by adjustments in female incubation behaviour.

Small increases in ambient temperature reduce offspring body mass in an equatorial mammal.

Human-induced climate change is leading to temperature rises, along with increases in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves. Many animals respond to high temperatures through behavioural thermoregulation, for example by resting in the shade, but this may impose opportunity costs by reducing foraging time (therefore energy supply), and so may be most effective when food is abundant. However, the heat dissipation limit (HDL) theory proposes that even when energy supply is plentiful, high temperatures can still have negative effects. This is because dissipating excess heat becomes harder, which limits processes that generate heat such as lactation. We tested predictions from HDL on a wild, equatorial population of banded mongooses (Mungos mungo). In support of the HDL theory, higher ambient temperatures led to lighter pups, and increasing food availability made little difference to pup weight under hotter conditions. This suggests that direct physiological constraints rather than opportunity costs of behavioural thermoregulation explain the negative impact of high temperatures on pup growth. Our results indicate that climate change may be particularly important for equatorial species, which often experience high temperatures year-round so cannot time reproduction to coincide with cooler conditions.

Insights into the response of coral biomineralisation to environmental change from aragonite precipitations in vitro

Precipitation of marine biogenic CaCO3 minerals occurs at specialist sites, typically with elevated pH and dissolved inorganic carbon, and in the presence of biomolecules which control the nucleation, growth, and morphology of the calcium carbonate structure. Here we explore aragonite precipitation in vitro under conditions inferred to occur in tropical coral calcification media under present and future atmospheric CO2 scenarios. We vary pH, ΩAr and pCO2 between experiments to explore how both HCO3− and CO32− influence precipitation rate and we identify the effects of the three most common amino acids in coral skeletons (aspartic acid, glutamic acid and glycine) on precipitation rate and aragonite morphology. We find that fluid ΩAr or [CO32−] is the main control on precipitation rate at 25 °C, with no significant contribution from HCO3− or pH. All amino acids inhibit aragonite precipitation at 0.2–5 mM and the degree of inhibition is inversely correlated with ΩAr and, in the case of aspartic acid, also inversely correlated with seawater temperature. Aspartic acid inhibits precipitation the most, of the tested amino acids (and generates changes in aragonite morphology) and glycine inhibits precipitation the least. Previous work shows that ocean acidification increases the amino acid content of coral skeletons and probably reduces calcification media ΩAr, both of which can inhibit aragonite precipitation. This study and previous work shows aragonite precipitation rate is exponentially related to temperature from 10 to 30 °C and small anthropogenic increases in seawater temperature will likely offset the inhibition in precipitation rate predicted to occur due to increased skeletal aspartic acid and reduced calcification media ΩAr under ocean acidification.

Personalized checkpoint acupuncture can reduce postoperative pain after abdominal surgery—a STRICTA-conform pilot study

BackgroundOptimal pain management is one of the core elements of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) protocols and remains a challenge. Acupuncture (AC) is an effective treatment for various pain conditions. Systematic and personalized allocation of acupoints may be decisive for efficacy.MethodsBased on the predominant pressure sensitivity of six gastrointestinal (GI) checkpoints (G1-G6), we devised a method to detect personalized patterns of pain and a corresponding set of acupoints. We performed a single AC treatment with semi-permanent needles and assessed the visual analogue scale (VAS) score, pain threshold based on pressure algometry (PA), and temperature changes on abdominal skin areas before and 5 min after AC.ResultsBetween April and June 2021, thirty-eight patients were prospectively included in this pilot study. The mean reduction in subjective pain sensation as assessed by VAS was 86%, paralleled by an augmentation of the pain threshold as measured by PA by 64%. A small but significant increase in the skin temperature was observed above the abdominal surface. These effects were independent of the type of surgery.ConclusionCheckpoint acupuncture may be a complementary tool for postoperative pain management. Further investigations are needed to explore this analgesic effect.

Modelling the Effects of Temperature and Pressure on Equivalent Circulating Density (ECD) During Drilling Operations Using Artificial Neural Networks

Incorrect evaluation of equivalent circulating density (ECD) while drilling oil and gas wells may result in drilling problems such as lost circulation, kicks, differential pipe sticking etc especially in narrow drilling margins. Due to the incompressible nature of liquids, increase in wellbore pressure will only have appreciable effect on the fluid rheology at higher pressures, whereas a small increase in temperature may cause a decrease in the rheology. One thousand and eleven (1,011) field data obtained from high pressure; high temperature (HPHT) wells were used to develop artificial neural networks (ANNs) for this study. Training data were used to train the network while validation data were used to guarantee that the network generalizes at the training stage. Test data were used to evaluate the prediction capability of the developed model. Four error metrics, namely R-square (R2), mean square error (MSE), root mean square error (RMSE) and average absolute percentage error (AAPE) were used to assess the performance of the developed networks. Forecasts from the testing data indicate the optimized ECD model produced a prediction accuracy; R2 of 0.9993, MSE of 0.000265, RMSE of 0.01628 and AAPE of 0.337. The optimized ECD model performed better than existing ECD models in terms of the prediction accuracy and the calculated errors. The developed ECD model will help in improving the ECD prediction during the pre-drill design phase, which is quite critical in narrow drilling margin wells.

Thermal impact of tourist visits on the microclimate in the Cap Blanc shelter, Dordogne, France

ABSTRACT Tourism is a growing concern for the conservation of heritage sites. In the Dordogne, the Cap Blanc shelter attracts many visitors and their presence may affect its parietal frieze by altering the thermal environment. To assess this impact, a study is carried out using numerical simulation, a non-intrusive conservation tool that can model the thermal behaviour of the cavity during tourist visits. We validate the numerical model with the temperature measurements taken inside the shelter during three tourist visits. We show that the heat emitted by the tourists is mostly absorbed by the walls, resulting in a small increase in air temperature (between 1°C and 2°C) and a large temperature gradient near the walls during the visits, which favours condensation and possible conservation problems.

Investigating the influences of climate change on drought in a small data-scarce river catchment

Abstract This study focuses on the influences of climate change on drought characteristics in the small, data-scarce Ndembera River catchment in Tanzania, using the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) datasets and six regional climate models (RCMs) of the CORDEX-Africa framework. The RCM simulations were validated against the CRU data, and their optimistic (RCP 2.6) and worst-case (RCP 8.5) scenarios were used in estimating ensemble simulations using the random forest regression. The ensemble simulations were used to compute standardized precipitation evapotranspiration indices, which characterized drought for the near-future, mid-future, and far-future. Finally, patterns and trends of changes in temperature and precipitation were compared to those in drought characteristics. The findings revealed substantial uncertainty in RCMs, although their ensembles fairly reproduced the historical climate in the catchment. Under the optimistic scenario, a slight decrease in precipitation and a small increase in maximum temperature are projected. Consequently, drought intensity is projected to rise just slightly but remain moderate throughout this century. These changes are expected to be more pronounced during the mid-future than the far-future. Under the worst-case scenario, the projected changes are expected to be more pronounced, especially during the end of the century. These sorts of insights are vital for enhancing adaptations to climate change in catchments.

Modeling, simulation and performance evaluation of a PVT system for the Kenyan manufacturing sector

Manufacturing is an end-use sector that uses the most delivered energy, accounting for around 50% of all transported fuel globally and 40% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) energy can substitute the transported energy to meet thermal and electrical energy requirements, mitigating high energy costs and climatic problems. This research aimed to develop, simulate, and evaluate the capabilities of a solar photovoltaic-thermal system for potential use in Kenya's manufacturing sector. A multistage cluster sampling technique was used in the study to characterize the manufacturing industry. Additionally, a PVT system was simulated using MATLAB Simulink to ascertain the relationship of temperature and the PV electrical efficiency. The impact of incorporating a thermal collector into the PV system on electrical, thermal, and overall system efficiency, and also the system's potential for use in thermal processes in manufacturing, were assessed. From the characterization results, the agro-processing sector dominates with 35% representation, and the small-scale thermal energy category dominates at 80%. The simulation findings show that a small temperature increase leads to a small increment in short circuit current but a significant decline in open circuit voltage. As a consequence, the maximum power (Pmax) of the PV decreases, lowering its electrical efficiency. However, the integration of PV with thermal collector improved the electrical, thermal, and the entire system efficiencies by, 16.01%, 20%, and 36.13%, respectively. More than 75% of the electrical and thermal energy processes fall in the small energy category. Hence, the PVT system is suitable for small-scale low-to-medium heat thermal energy categories or as a substitute system for higher temperature processes to raise feed water temperatures and reduction of thermal energy cost. This study gives a new approach of the application of PVT system for thermal industrial applications.

The development of a fuel lifecycle reactivity control strategy for a generic micro high temperature reactor

This article provides an overview of the design methodology used to develop a conceptual set of reactivity control mechanism of a micro reactor based on the U-Battery. The U-Battery is based on remote deployment and therefore it is favourable to provide a long fuel lifecycle. This is achieved by implementing a high fissile loading content, which proves challenging when considering reactivity control methods. This article follows the design methodology used to overcome these issues, with an emphasis on a new concept of a moveable moderator which utilises the size of the U-Battery as a small reduction in moderation provides a significant reduction in reactivity. The latest work on this project sees the moveable moderator investigated during a depressurised loss of forced coolant accident, where a reduction of moderator volume increases the maximum fuel temperature experienced. The overall conclusion is that the maximum fuel temperature is not significantly increased (4 K) due to the central reflector region relatively lower volumetric heat capacity compared to that of whole core. However, a small temperature increase is observed immediately after the transient due to the central reflector removal because it reaches energy equilibrium with the fuel region faster.