The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced more than $59m in funding for 25 US colleges and universities, two national laboratories, and one industry organisation to support nuclear energy research and development and provide access to world-class research facilities. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy says, with these awards, it has surpassed $1bn in total funding to US colleges and universities since 2009.
DOE says the funding initiative has supported some of the most influential nuclear technology research of the 21st century, including advanced reactor concepts, accident tolerant fuels, and structural materials of nuclear reactors. “Eclipsing $1bn represents an incredible investment in our nation’s colleges and universities, as well as the faculty and students performing nuclear energy research,” said Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr Kathryn Huff. “We’re going to need a thriving workforce to triple nuclear energy by 2050 and meet the President’s ambitious climate goals. These awards move us one step closer to realizing a clean energy future.”
In this latest round of awards, 50 projects were supported in the following areas:
- Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research (CINR) R&D ($44m) - 44 awards bringing collaborative teams together to solve complex problems to advance nuclear science and technology.
- CINR Integrated Research Projects ($9m) - three multidisciplinary teams addressing specific research challenges and capability gaps in nuclear energy.
- Nuclear Science User Facilities ($6.6m) - three research teams (one industry organisation and two national laboratories) providing access to world-class facilities and unique capabilities to help maintain the existing fleet of reactors and advance next generation nuclear technologies. Additionally, four of the CINR R&D university awardees will also receive Nuclear Science User Facility access funds.
