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GAIN announces third round FY 2023 Nuclear Energy Voucher recipient

June 26, 2023

The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) announced today that seven companies will be provided a GAIN Nuclear Energy (NE) Voucher to accelerate the innovation and application of advanced nuclear technologies. NE vouchers provide advanced nuclear technology innovators with access to the extensive nuclear research capabilities and expertise available across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory complex. This is the third award for FY 2023.

The business selected to receive a GAIN nuclear energy voucher for Round 3 FY 2023 are:

GAIN 2023 3rd Round NE Voucher Recipient	Awarded Proposal	Partner Facility
ARC Clean Technology, Inc. Washington, D.C.	Development of Cladding Protective Coating for FOAK ARC-100 Reactor Facility	Argonne National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory
Alpha Tech Research Corp. American Fork, UT	Advanced Moderator Module Validation for the Alpha Tech Micro Molten Salt Reactor	Argonne National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory
General Atomics San Diego, CA	Post-Irradiation Examination to Quantify Irradiation-Induced Bowing of SiGA® Silicon Carbide Composite Structures	Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Kairos Power, LLC Alameda, CA	ICP-MS For Analysis of Lithium Isotopic Ratios in Materials Highly Enriched in 7Li	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Moltex Energy USA LLC Wilmington, DE	Salt to Metal to Salt Heat Transfer in Narrow Fuel Pins	Argonne National Laboratory
Ultra Energy (Weed Instrument Company, Inc.) Round Rock, TX	High Temperature Neutron Flux Detector – Reactor Testing	Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC Cranberry Township, PA	PIE-Enabled Study of Aqueous Corrosion & Zr Hydriding in Cr-Coated Cladding	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Idaho National Laboratory

GAIN NE voucher recipients do not receive direct financial awards. Vouchers provide funding to DOE laboratories to help businesses overcome critical technological and commercialization challenges. All awardees are responsible for a minimum 20 percent cost share, which could be an in-kind contribution.

The GAIN NE Voucher Program accepts applications on innovation that supports the production and utilization of nuclear energy (e.g., for generation of electricity, supply of process heat, etc.) in the following general topic areas:

Analysis and evaluation of, and for, advanced reactor concepts and associated designs, including development of R&D-based licensing technical requirements or regulatory strategies
Structural material and component development, testing and qualification
Advanced nuclear fuel development, fabrication and testing (includes fuel materials and cladding)
Development, testing, and qualification of instrumentation, controls, and sensor technologies that are hardened for harsh environments and secured against cyber intrusion
Modeling and simulation, high-performance computing, codes and methods
Technical assistance from subject matter experts and/or data/information to support technology development and/or confirm key technical or licensing issues

Further information on the GAIN nuclear energy voucher program as well as current and all past awards may be found here.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) established GAIN to provide the nuclear community with the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercialization while ensuring the continued safe, reliable, and economic operation of the existing nuclear fleet. Through GAIN, DOE is making its state-of-the-art and continuously improving RD&D infrastructure available to stakeholders to achieve faster and cost-effective development of innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercial readiness.

Visit GAIN at https://gain.inl.gov. Follow GAIN on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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