The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has just announced that it will take part in six new collaborations with private companies to develop advance technologies for nuclear energy. Access to the nuclear experts and facilities of ORNL for the private collaborators is considered to be worth about nine and a half million dollars. When additional cost sharing from the private companies is included, the total value for the projects is about twelve million dollars.
       ORNL will team up with Exelon Generation to work on improving modelling and simulation techniques for boiling water reactors. This could enhance current reactor operations and future advanced reactor development. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is involved as are several universities. Together this group of organizations will form the Collaboration for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors.
       ORNL will team up with Analysis and Measurement Services Corporation and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to create criteria for testing the way that aging causes deterioration of cables and insulation in nuclear power plants.
       ORNL will engage in another joint project with Exelon Generation for a feasibility study for the enrichment of gadolinium-157 (GA-157) using a plasma separation process. The use of Ga-157 in current reactor fuel designs may lower fuel costs. The purpose of the joint project is to determine whether or not this enrichment process is economically sound.
        ORNL will team up with Eastman and the INL to examine the design and analysis of an integrated nuclear hybrid energy system that will produce both heat and electricity for commercial use.
        ORNL will team up with NexDefense Inc on the analysis of nuclear reactor cybersecurity software.
        ORNL will team up with Westinghouse Electric Company to develop and test alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels for use in lead-cooled fast reactors.
        The DoE’s Office of Science separately announced the availability of fourteen million dollars for a three-year project consisting of new research on fusion energy. Data gathered with the DoE tokamak at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by General Atomics will be used in the research.
       Universities, non-profits and private sector companies will be able to apply for a share of the funding based on competitive peer review. The funding will be in the form of three-year grants of from fifty thousand to one and a half million per year.
      James Van Dam is the DOE Acting Associate Director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences. He said, “DIII-D is one of the world’s leading tokamak or donut-shaped fusion facilities and offers excellent stead-state performance and advanced diagnostics for understanding the behavior of fusion plasmas. Data accumulated through operations of DIII-D offer a rich vein to mine for new insights into fusion.”
       The DoE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has announced that it has funding for the support of early stage, transformation energy technologies. This funding opportunity will be open for an extended period of time. New topics will be released periodically to support emerging technologies. The first round of funding will go to projects involving next generation nuclear energy and geothermal exploration. Ultra-durable, lower-energy concrete for infrastructure will be included in the first phase. Eighteen million dollars has a been allocated for this batch of projects.
        US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said. “By design, ARPA-E is an agency that adapts quickly to the changing energy landscape, and this new program will allow us to better capitalize on emerging energy trends. This program will enable the Department to target technologies at the project level, driving innovation and creating new opportunities.”