Past Voucher Awards
The successes and significant contributions of past GAIN NE voucher recipients have real-world impacts on our energy future. GAIN is proud to provide these nuclear innovators with a single point of access to the broad range of capabilities — people, facilities, materials, and data — across the Department of Energy’s complex and its National Lab capabilities.
Past Voucher Recipients
Categories
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Development of Casting Techniques for ẟ-phase Uranium-Zirconium Alloys, Lightbridge Corp
The casting, processing, and shipping of HALEU alloys, like those being developed by Lightbridge, require the ability to experiment with higher temperatures in a facility that can perform these functions. The goal of this project was to identify an appropriate casting method (i.e., crucible and coating combination) that results in an acceptable impurity concentration in…
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Pebble Bed Large Eddy Simulations for Lower Order Methods Benchmarking and Uncertainty Quantification Development
Kairos Power is a nuclear energy technology, engineering, and manufacturing company singularly focused on the commercialization of the fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (FHR). To simulate the core thermal hydraulic behavior, researchers employ simplified empirical correlation-based porous media and heat transfer models. For different operation and accident scenario conditions, Large Eddy Simulations (LES) can produce numerical…
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Independent Assessment of a Novel Heat Exchanger Concept for Open-Air Brayton Cycle
Nano will partner with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to perform an independent evaluation of the heat exchanger design. This will include the development of a computational model of the heat exchanger to help analyze the design and confirm certain attributes that are critical to the reactor operations.
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Development of Oxygen IR Calibration Standards for High-Purity Chloride Salts
Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is only one of two labs that can test the oxygen content in chloride salts. MS will partner with INL to verify alignment of test results between MS and INL regarding oxygen content of very high-purity chloride salts utilizing oxygen analyzers, identify, capture, and document best practices into a preliminary framework…
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Independent Analysis of Antares R1 Core Design
Antares will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to perform an independent, technical audit of Antares R1. ORNL’s Reactor Analysis Group will verify design calculations, including core neutronics and thermal hydraulics. This project will yield high confidence that hardware test campaigns predicated on neutronics data are valid, allowing Antares to move through test stages…
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Project SparkHub: Nuclear-Powered Data Center Development
To help get ANA’s Project SparkHub off to a quick start, ANA will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to use the OR-SAGE tool to perform site screening and down select a number of sites that could be amenable to siting nuclear facilities. The sites will also be located in regions where there is…
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Thermogravimetric Analysis of IMSR Fuel Salt Simulants
Terrestrial Energy will partner with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) using their expertise in thermogravimetric analysis to analyze the IMSR fuel salt. This project will help determine what chemical species are present in the fuel salt vapor as a function of temperature and partial pressure, whether the fuel salt decomposes at elevated temperatures, and the…
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Real-Time Generation Risk Assessment (GRA) Model for Commercial Nuclear Power Plant
Entergy will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to implement real-time Generation Risk Assessment (GRA) modeling to address these issues. ORNL’s unique experience in implementing GRA models combined with the use of their Operational Performance Risk Assessment (OPRA) software will be used to integrate the model with real-time data. Entergy will roll out the…
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Investigation of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) Process Development for Graphite Neutron Moderator Production
Element Factory, LLC (Cheyenne, WY) will work with Idaho National Laboratory to ensure that graphite components will meet technical and regulatory requirements for use in nuclear reactors when they are produced through their novel process that uses different carbon sources.
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Thermal Energy Storage with sCO2 Power Conversion for Low-Cost Micro Modular Reactors – Heat Transfer and sCO2 Power Cycle Assessment
Kanata America, Inc. (Cheyenne, WY) will collaborate with Sandia National Laboratories to improve the efficiency of their thermal energy storage and power conversion systems for future use in microreactors.
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Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) Irradiation Testing
Westinghouse will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to perform an irradiation test and associated Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE) on a specific CMC to ensure it is a viable option for the eVinci microreactor prior to performing a larger irradiation campaign. The work will utilize the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL.
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Safeguards Technologies and Assessments to Support Efficient UNF Recycling in the U.S.
SHINE will work with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) to help integrate sensors into the MC&A requirements for SHINE’s flowsheets and perform modeling to define sensor placement and requirements.