Advanced nuclear reactor concepts get new funding from American govt

Advanced nuclear reactor innovations could be key source of American clean energy

Pebble Bed Modular reactor, example of advanced nuclear reactor design.

American Department of Energy is funding a series of investments in advanced nuclear reactor concepts it hopes will be demonstrated 20 years from now.

The Energy Department released a funding opportunity announcement Friday. Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy John Kotek says the funding will support the “research, development, and demonstration” of advanced nuclear reactor concepts.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy John Kotek.

“We have been encouraged by recent interest in advanced reactor technology,” said Kotek in a release.

The Energy Department will partner with industry to fund up to two awards of approximately $6.0 million each in FY 2015. The Energy Department will invest up to $3.6 million in each project, with a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) providing up to an additional $2.4 million.

Recipients will be required to invest $1.5 million as part of the cost share. The funding opportunity allows for multiple-year funding for up to two awards with a total of $40 million in DOE cost share per award.

The Department said the announcement represents an early step in increasing investment in nuclear advanced reactor technologies, which have the potential to provide substantially enhanced operational performance, safety, security, economics, and proliferation resistance.

“We believe this funding opportunity will foster scientific innovation to advance the goals of the Department in developing clean energy technologies,” said Kotek.

Through this competition, the Energy Department said it seeks to foster collaboration with industry and the national laboratories, in support of advanced reactor concepts that would provide clean, affordable, and secure energy.

The Department is soliciting proposals for cost-shared advanced reactor concept development projects with the potential to be demonstrated in the 2035 timeframe.