Oak Ridge National Laboratory Archives

2025 Molten Salt Reactor Workshop

ORNL’s annual Molten Salt Reactor Workshop is the leading forum to discuss the latest MSR research and development programs, technology advancements, international collaborations, and the progress of demonstration efforts. Please join us this year for an exciting and informative program, active discussions that advance our understanding of our challenges and opportunities, and networking that builds the partnerships essential to our future.

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GAIN Announces Fourth Round FY 2025 Nuclear Energy Voucher Recipients

November 20, 2025,
DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program provides the nuclear community with the technical, regulatory, and financial support needed to move innovative nuclear technologies toward commercialization while ensuring the continued, safe, and economic operation of the existing fleet. GAIN 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. This marks the fourth and final round of GAIN vouchers awarded for fiscal year 2025. Please visit the GAIN website for more information on upcoming award rounds.

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Molten Salt Nuclear Graphite Qualification Plan

Natura will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop a graphite qualification plan and identify performance characteristics and development plans to design, approve, and perform graphite irradiations with fuel-bearing salts. The plan will look at utilizing the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at ORNL which would allow for rapid neutron irradiation of graphite (7-10 dpa per year) in a future irradiation test outside of the voucher scope. The project will also include the development of fuel-bearing, molten salt irradiation capsules to support the future irradiation test.

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DOE Nuclear Energy awards three GAIN vouchers

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced on June 5 that it has awarded vouchers to three nuclear companies from its Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) program to research nuclear fuel and materials.

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GAIN Vouchers Awarded to Accelerate Research on Advanced Fuels, Materials, and Sensors – 2nd Round FY 2025

June 5, 2025 – The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) announced today that three companies will be provided vouchers to Advancing Nuclear Fuel, Materials, and Sensors Companies. The vouchers provide companies access to the extensive nuclear research capabilities and expertise available 25.across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory complex. This is the second round of GAIN vouchers awarded for FY 2025

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Reference Data for Determination of Carbon and Oxygen Content in TRISO Fuel Kernels

Standard Nuclear is developing alternative methods to assess the carbon and oxygen content in the fuel kernel. They will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to perform LECO testing in the Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis (LAMDA) laboratory to help baseline and calibrate the method. By developing an alternative method for assessing carbon and oxygen content in TRISO fuel kernels, this project will reduce the cost and inefficiencies associated with current destructive testing methods.

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2024 Molten Salt Reactor Workshop

The 10th annual Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) Workshop is a leading forum to discuss molten salt technology advances. MSRs are a promising class of advanced nuclear reactors rapidly progressing toward demonstrations. The MSR workshop, held Nov. 5-7th 2024 in Knoxville, TN, provides a forum for sharing information and status on MSR research and development programs, technology advancements, international collaborations, and the progress of demonstration efforts.

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Research Evaluates Transitioning from Coal to Nuclear Energy

October 2024 – Researchers are engaging directly with communities to learn more about local opinions and how to build social and cultural metrics into their energy-planning analysis. That’s work that’s also being done at ORNL, where the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) works with individual sites and utilities to run economic analyses and provide decision-making resources.

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GAIN Announces Fourth Round FY 2024 Nuclear Energy Voucher Recipients

September 24, 2024 – The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) announced today that four 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 fourth award for FY 2024.

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International Nuclear Safeguards and Security by Design Workshop

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is organizing a three-day Safeguards and Security by Design (SSeBD) Workshop (September 10-12, 2024) in Oak Ridge, TN for U.S. advanced and small modular reactor vendors and developers that are seeking to deploy their technologies in the U.S. and internationally. The workshop will focus on the technical measures that can be applied during the planning and design stages to increase physical protection and security system efficacy to meet international security guidance and highlight how designers can meet international nuclear safeguards requirements, which are different from the United States’ requirements.

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