A dozen universities, two developers of small modular reactors and some national laboratories, have landed Rapid Turnaround Experiment projects with Nuclear Science User Facilities, from the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
The 23 award winners were announced June 26 and DOE said their work would support advanced nuclear deployment and nuclear materials.
Rapid Turnaround Experiment awards help further the advancement of nuclear science and technology by providing nuclear energy researchers access to irradiation testing, examination and technical expertise through the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s NSUF without charge for the researchers, according to DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s June 26 press release.
The recipients will support President Donald Trump’s pro-nuclear efforts, including the executive order Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base, said the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
The 23 Rapid Turnaround Experiment awardees are made of recipients from 12 universities, three national laboratories, and two advanced nuclear technology companies. The two advanced nuclear technology companies were Oklo and TerraPower.
Each research group selected has a project that covers nuclear fuel and materials with the goal of improving nuclear technology, DOE said. The research teams will have up to nine months to complete their work.
These awardees are for the first round of fiscal 2025, the second call of proposals has opened up on June 18. The deadline of that second proposal call will conclude on July 16 at 4 p.m Eastern Time.
While the recipients do not receive direct funding for their respective projects, DOE Office of Nuclear Energy said the research capabilities provided to complete this work are worth around $1.4 million in support.
NSUF is a consortium of testing facilities used to foster nuclear energy research and development. It was founded in 2007 by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy as a program to grant access to nuclear energy researchers from other parts of the sector.
According to NSUF, there are 66 partner facilities involved with the program.
