|  | | IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Today at 5:05 p.m., the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) pulsed for a few seconds, subjecting a small capsule of light water reactor fuel to radiation and heat. The test marked the return of a capability that is critical to the United States’ role in the development of nuclear fuels, for both the existing fleet and a new generation of advanced reactors under design. READ MORE
| 9/18/2018 |
|  | | DOE is seeking information, comments, feedback, and recommendations from parties interested in supporting a pilot program to demonstrate a micro-reactor at a DoD or DOE site to provide resilience for critical national security infrastructure. In addition to reactor designers and vendors, nuclear utilities, nuclear fuel manufacturers, independent power producers, and companies with experience in engineering, manufacturing, procurement and construction of nuclear power plants are encouraged to reply to the applicable sections of this RFI with feedback on a potential pilot program. The full Request For Information details may be found at https://www.id.energy.gov/MICRO-REACTOR_REQUEST_FOR_INFORMATION%20Final.doc
| 9/13/2018 |
|  | | Save the date for a U.S. Nuclear Energy Industry face-to-face meeting and webinar on September 26, 2018, in Washington D.C. The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) will host this first annual meeting to obtain feedback from U.S. Industry on the "U.S. Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development, Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)" that was issued in December 2017. In addition, NE will lead the discussion of lessons learned for the parallel Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative technical vouchers program that helps provide U.S. industry with access to the unique capabilities of the U.S. National Laboratories. Also, the meeting will include discussion of planned upcoming activities and potential new aspects for the U.S. Industry FOA. NE has actively evaluated the FOA provisions throughout its first year and has made several modifications due to self-identified improvements and those from U.S. industry participants. This process continues, and NE is committed to evaluating all comments received at this meeting and from all sources, and to establish a feedback mechanism in response to received comments, to continue to improve the effectiveness of the FOA and the U.S. government's appropriate support of U.S. nuclear energy technology development consistent with the GAIN initiative. Register for the meeting/webinar here: https://inr.inl.gov/SitePages/Industry_Event_Registration.aspx. Please be advised that, due to room size limitations, NE anticipates limiting attendance at the face-to-face meeting in Washington, DC to one representative from a registered U.S. company. Other interested parties are strongly encouraged to participate by webinar, which will allow for two-way interaction.
| 8/23/2018 |
| | | The primary of objective of this report is to identify the core fuels and materials experimental capabilities available at the Halden Boiling Water Reactor (HBWR), assess potential capability gaps specifically related to the Department of Energy (DOE) Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF) program, and provide recommendations for a path forward for DOE ATF. READ MORE
| 8/7/2018 |
| | | DOE has selected two companies to receive GAIN technology development vouchers in this second review cycle. The companies selected are Yellowstone Energy (Knoxville, TN) in the amount of $160,000, and ThorCon US (Stevenson, WA) in the amount of $400,000. Further detail and description of these awards can be found under the GAIN website. READ MORE
| 7/10/2018 |
|  | | IFE's Board of Directors has decided to permanently close the Halden Reactor and to start decommissioning the reactor. IFE will continue its nuclear research activities, with focus on activities that do not depend on the reactor being operational. The closure of the reactor will not affect IFEs other operations.
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| 6/28/2018 |
|  | | The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced nearly $64 million in awards for advanced nuclear energy technology to DOE national laboratories, industry, and U.S. universities in 29 states. In total, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy selected 89 projects for funding for nuclear energy research, facility access, and crosscutting technology and infrastructure development. READ MORE
| 6/18/2018 |
|  | | Titans of Nuclear is a podcast featuring interviews with experts throughout the field of nuclear energy. Host Bret Kugelmass is a climate change thought leader & champion of nuclear energy. This episode features INL's Rita Baranwal.
| 5/7/2018 |
| | | DOE has selected five U.S. companies to receive GAIN technology development vouchers in this first review cycle. The companies selected and the DOE contribution to the cost-shared vouchers are Terrestrial Energy, USA in New York, NY ($500,000); Vega Wave Systems, Inc. in West Chicago, IL ($130,000); Oklo, Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA ($417,000); Urbix Resources, LLC in Mesa, AZ ($320,000); and ThorCon US, Inc. in Stevenson, WA ($400,000). The DOE News Release is available at this link.
| 4/27/2018 |
|  | | The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Regulatory Information Conference this year highlighted efforts to modernize the agency's processes and culture, NRC said recently. READ MORE
| 3/21/2018 |
|  | | Iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys are candidates to be used as nuclear fuel cladding for increased accident tolerance. An analysis of the response of FeCrAl under normal operating and loss of coolant conditions has been performed using fuel performance modeling. In particular, recent information on FeCrAl material properties and phenomena from separate effects tests has been implemented in the BISON fuel performance code and analyses of integral fuel rod behavior with FeCrAl cladding have been performed. BISON simulations included both light water reactor normal operation and loss-of-coolant accidental transients. In order to model fuel rod behavior during accidents, a cladding failure criterion is desirable. For FeCrAl alloys, a failure criterion is developed using recent burst experiments under loss of coolant like conditions. The added material models are utilized to perform comparative studies with Zircaloy-4 under normal operating conditions and oxidizing and non-oxidizing out-of-pile loss of coolant conditions. The results indicate that for all conditions studied, FeCrAl behaves similarly to Zircaloy-4 with the exception of improved oxidation performance. Further experiments are required to confirm these observations. READ MORE
| 1/3/2018 |
|  | | IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) today announced the availability of fiscal year 2018 funds for vouchers to assist applicants developing advanced nuclear energy technologies who are seeking access to the world-class expertise and capabilities available across the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratory complex. The vouchers are provided by the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy to support nuclear energy innovation. READ MORE
| 12/13/2017 |
| | | WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to support development of advanced nuclear energy technology. The Department of Energy (DOE) is soliciting proposals for cost-shared projects to develop innovative, industry-driven reactor designs and accompanying technologies with high potential to advance nuclear power in the United States. “Targeted early-stage investment in advanced nuclear technology will support a strong domestic industry now and into the future,” said Secretary Perry. “This funding opportunity is an important step to ensure our nation continues to benefit from this clean, resilient source of electricity.” DOE expects to make up to $30 million or more available in FY 2018 awards, subject to the availability of funding. The FOA will be open for a five-year period accepting applications on a year-round basis, with a quarterly selection process. Additional funding will be available in future years, as allocated by Congress. Through this competition, DOE encourages U.S. companies to partner with other U.S. federal agencies, public and private laboratories, institutions of higher education, and other domestic entities to share expertise needed to successfully develop these innovative technologies. This FOA is available at www.grants.gov under reference number DE-FOA-0001817. Initial applications are due January 31, 2018. DOE will conduct a webinar on January 9, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. EST for more information on this funding opportunity. You can register for the webinar here. A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document is also available at www.id.doe.gov.
ANNOUNCEMENT
FOA: DE-FOA-0001817
| 12/7/2017 |
|  | | Advanced nuclear technologies can propel the world toward our climate goals by providing affordable, zero-carbon electricity and heat; supporting the growth of renewable energy sources; and supplying clean energy for water. See More
| 12/6/2017 |
| | | Idaho National Laboratory recently expanded its library of MOOSE-based, open-source modeling and simulation software with the MASTODON code. This code helps scientists and engineers design buildings and other structures to better withstand seismic events. Read More
| 10/26/2017 |
| | | This report provides a high-level review of potential technical, commercial, and natural components likely to influence the planning, preparing, and positioning for the future by investing in the build-out of energy systems at Idaho National Laboratory. Read More | 10/23/2017 |
|  | | ESSAI - Economic and Market Challenges Facing the U.S. Nuclear Commercial Fleet - Cost and Revenue Study Read More
| 10/20/2017 |
|  | | ARPA-E Provides up to $20 Million in Funding for Technologies to Enable Lower Cost, Safer Advanced Nuclear Plant Designs Read More
| 10/20/2017 |
|  | | DOE-NE has released the FY 2018 Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0001773). The infrastructure support program will be administered by the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF) program office. This FOA supports research reactor upgrades and general scientific infrastructure for universities only. Read More
| 10/20/2017 |
| | | DOE-NE has released the FY 2018 Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). The FOA contains workscopes for NEUP, NEET, and NSUF research areas. Read More
| 10/19/2017 |
|  | | | 10/18/2017 |
|  | | Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Kemal Pasamehmetoglu for his leadership at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). For the past five and a half years, Dr. Pasamehmetoglu has served as the Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science & Technology at INL. Read More
| 9/25/2017 |
|  | | A new phase of post-irradiation examinations (PIE) of nuclear fuel has begun at Idaho National Laboratory's Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC). Read More
| 9/19/2017 |
|  | | Technology developers recognize an urgent need to commercialize innovative nuclear concepts to meet energy demands. The U.S. technology leadership role is essential to meeting the nation’s energy, environmental and national security needs; this role will be achieved by resolving technical, cost, proliferation resistance and security barriers through research and development.
| 9/13/2017 |
|  | | This second Department-wide round of funding through the Office of Technology Transition’s Technology Commercialization Fund will support 54 projects.
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| 9/13/2017 |
|  | | On Aug. 8, John Bumgardner was honored with the Energy Innovator Award by the Partnership for Science and Technology (PST) for his innovative efforts in driving the TREAT restart effort and work on the new Fast Reactor program. The award ceremony was part of the Intermountain Energy Summit. Read More
| 8/31/2017 |
|  | | Despite the forces of nature and in spite of the opportunistic efforts of professional opponents, a large nuclear power station located in the middle of Hurricane Harvey's devastation continues to steadily produce 100% of its rated power output.
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| 8/31/2017 |
| | | With two patents and two R&D 100 awards to its name, Idaho National Laboratory's Change Detection System (CDS) would appear to be a shoo-in for commercialization. Embraced throughout the U.S. government, CDS is diagnostic software that can align two seemingly identical images and enable a person to see even the tiniest variations. Read More
| 8/28/2017 |
| | | The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy has released draft workscopes for the FY 2018 CINR FOA webinar. DOE-NE anticipates discussing FY 2018 NEUP R&D, NEUP IRP, NEET, and applicable NSUF workscopes. New aspects of DOE-NE's consolidated FOAs will also be discussed. When: August 8-10, 2017 Webinar Schedule Draft Workscopes Click HERE to Register for the FY 2018 Webinar
| 8/2/2017 |
|  | | Today, the DOE has selected five university, five national laboratory, and five industry-led projects that will take advantage of NSUF capabilities to investigate important nuclear fuel and material applications. DOE will support 6 of these projects with a total of $2.3 million in research funds, and all 14 of these projects will be supported by over $10 million in facility access costs and expertise for experimental neutron and ion irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination facilities, synchrotron beamline capabilities, and technical assistance for design and analysis of experiments through the NSUF. Read More
| 8/2/2017 |