trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/WRBE0-VTAY1p6f36nYVmCA2 content esgSubNav
In This List

US DOE announces $30M funding opportunity for advanced nuclear technologies

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 49: Carbon reduction in cloud

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Research

US utility commissioners: Who they are and how they impact regulation

Blog

Q&A: Datacenters: Energy Hogs or Sustainability Helpers?


US DOE announces $30M funding opportunity for advanced nuclear technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy said it will invest $30 million in advanced nuclear energy technologies over five years. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced Dec. 7 that the DOE is soliciting proposals for cost-sharing projects that develop innovative reactor designs and accompanying technologies with a high potential to advance nuclear power in the U.S. Subject to the availability of funds, as much as $30 million will be available starting in fiscal year 2018 for selected projects.

"Targeted early-stage investment in advanced nuclear technology will support a strong domestic industry now and into the future," said Perry in a news release. "This funding opportunity is an important step to ensure our nation continues to benefit from this clean, resilient source of electricity."

Perry has also pitched advanced non-light-water technologies, specifically small modular reactors, to someday help communities bounce back from natural disasters in the wake of Hurricane Maria's devastating impact on Puerto Rico in September-October 2017.

Through the solicitation and funding, the DOE seeks to encourage American companies to work with other federal government agencies, public and private laboratories, institutions of higher education and other U.S.-based entities in order to share the expertise needed to successfully develop and commercialize advanced reactors. Applications will be accepted over a five-year period on a year-round basis, with a quarterly selection process. Initial applications are due Jan. 31, 2018. The DOE said additional funding will be available in future years, as appropriated by Congress.

This latest round of DOE funding for advanced nuclear technologies follows a previous $20 million funding opportunity announced in October by DOE for developers of less costly, "walkaway-safe" reactor designs through a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, program. The Trump administration's original budget proposal, released in March, called for the elimination of ARPA-E. Congress later approved a $15 million boost in funding for the R&D program.

In recent analysis of DOE funding for advanced nuclear from 1998 to 2015, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the Brookings Institution and the University of California, San Diego concluded that the $2 billion in government funding over that period was being poorly used toward research and "at funding levels too low to be relevant to actual commercialization," even by the DOE's own estimates. The funding, which varied between zero dollars and $240 million annually, amounted to only 4% of the agency's expenditures for energy research and development programs.

Absent a sudden sense of urgency among U.S. policymakers, the report further warned, the likelihood is "exceedingly low" that advanced non-light-water nuclear reactors will play a substantial role in transitioning the country toward a low-carbon economy by 2050. (DE-FOA-0001817)