Environmental

Energy Department Announces New Investments in Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors


WASHINGTON –(ENEWSPF)—October 31, 2014. Today, as part of the President’s all-of-the-above energy approach and Climate Action Plan, the Energy Department announced awards for five companies to lead key nuclear energy research and development projects supporting advanced reactor technologies. These projects will receive $13 million in cost-share agreements to help address significant technical challenges to the design, construction and operation of next generation nuclear reactors, based off needs identified by industry designers and technical experts.

“This type of public-private research in advanced nuclear reactors will help accelerate American leadership in the next generation of nuclear energy technologies, and move the United States closer to a low carbon future,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “These types of investments are crucial to the continuing role of nuclear power as a significant contributor to the U.S. energy economy.”

The Department began this program in 2013 to partner with industry in developing next generation reactors that have the potential to achieve significant advances in safety, efficiency and economics. The companies receiving federal investments are:

AREVA Federal Services partnering with TerraPower Company, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and Texas A&M University – Modeling and simulation for longer life cores: Thermal Hydraulic simulations and experimental investigation for liquid metal cooled fast reactor fuel assemblies

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy partnering with ANL – Development and modernization of next-generation probabilistic risk assessment methodologies

General Atomics partnering with the University of California at San Diego and the University of South Carolina – Fabrication and testing complex Silicon Carbide structures pertinent to advanced reactor concepts

NGNP Industry Alliance partnering with AREVA, UltraSafe Nuclear Company, Westinghouse, and Texas A&M University – High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) Post-accident Heat Removal and Testing

Westinghouse Electric Company partnering with ANL and the University of Pittsburg– Development of thermo-acoustic sensors for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFR)

Find more information at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy Website: http://energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy

Source: energy.gov


ARCHIVES