The funds will cover facility access, cross-cutting technology development, and infrastructure awards for 58 advanced nuclear technology projects, the statement said.
The DOE said $28.5m (€25.1m) under NEUP will support 40 university-led nuclear energy research and development projects in 23 states. Seven other university-led projects will receive more than $1.6m for research reactor and infrastructure improvements providing important safety, performance and student education-related upgrades to a part of the US’ 25 university research reactors.
The DOE said it has selected two university-, one national laboratory- and three industry-led projects to qualify for funding under the NSUF programme to investigate important nuclear fuel and material applications. Three of these projects will receive a total of $1.5m in research funds, while all six projects will be supported by more than $10m in facility access costs and expertise for experimental neutron and ion irradiation testing, post-irradiation examination facilities, synchrotron beamline capabilities, and technical assistance for design and analysis of experiments through NSUF.
“With this year’s awards, the Office of Nuclear Energy has now awarded more than $678m (€598m) to continue American leadership in clean energy innovation and to train the next generation of nuclear engineers and scientists through its university programmes since 2009”, the DOE said.