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     The 2019 Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA) directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to facilitate the siting of advanced reactor research demonstration facilities. Partnerships are to be encouraged between the DoE and private industry. The NEICA established the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC). This new facility will provide developers in the nuclear private sector access to assets in U.S. National Laboratories and infrastructure for the purpose of testing and demonstrating new and innovative reactor designs. The facility will also assess their performance. Assistance in accelerating the licensing and commercialization of new reactor designs will also be provided. The House Energy and Water Development Committee has allocated five million dollars to the NRIC for the 2020 budget. The money will be used to demonstrate small modular reactors and micro-reactors within the next five years.
     Rick Perry is the U.S. Secretary of Energy. He said, “NRIC will enable the demonstration and deployment of advanced reactors that will define the future of nuclear energy. By bringing industry together with our national labs and university partners, we can enhance our energy independence and position the US as a global leader in advanced nuclear innovation.”
    The NRIC is located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The Center is working on the development of the DoE’s Gateway for Accelerate Innovation in Nuclear Initiative which will accelerate development and commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies. The NRIC will supply support to developers as they move to the later states of commercialization. There will be coordination with industry, federal institutions, national laboratories and universities on testing and developing concepts.
    The NEICA has also directed the DoE to work on the development of a reactor-based fast neutron source for testing of advanced reactor fuels and materials. The DoE launched the Versatile Test Reactor Project early in 2019. They also announced the drafting of an Environmental Impact Statement for a project to construct a new reactor based on GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s integral sodium-cooled fast reactor Power Reactor Innovative Small Module (PRISM) at INL. An alternative site has been designated at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
    The GE Hitachi PRISM is a Generation IV reactor design which is intended to close the fuel cycle. It was part of an Advanced Recycling Center proposal that GE Hitachi sent to the DoE as a solution for dealing with nuclear waste. It is a commercial implementation of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) that was developed by Argonne National Laboratory between 1894 and 1994. The IFR is a scaled-up version of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II design was an early design for a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor. The system is composed of reactor modules which will be produced in a factory.
     The PRISM is a pool type reactor as opposed to a loop type reactor. When temperatures rise, the reactor drops to a lower power level. It includes a key safety feature that consists of a passive reactor air cooling system that removes waste heat. These systems always operate, and they prevent any damage to the core even if all other cooling systems are inoperable.