GAIN announces second-round FY-2020 Nuclear Energy Voucher recipients

GAIN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 12, 2020   The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) announced today that two nuclear companies will be provided GAIN Nuclear Energy (NE) Vouchers to accelerate the innovation and application of advanced nuclear technologies. NE vouchers provide advanced nuclear technology innovators with access to the extensive nuclear research capabilities and expertise available across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory complex. This is the second set of awards in FY 2020. The GAIN NE Voucher Program accepts applications on innovation that supports production and utilization of nuclear energy (e.g., for generation of electricity, supply of process heat, etc.) in the following general topic areas:

  • Analysis and evaluation of, and for, advanced reactor concepts and associated designs, including development of licensing information or strategies
  • Structural material and component development, testing and qualification
  • Advanced nuclear fuel development, fabrication and testing (includes fuel materials and cladding)
  • Development, testing, and qualification of instrumentation, controls, and sensor technologies that are hardened for harsh environments and secured against cyber intrusion
  • Modeling and simulation, high-performance computing, codes and methods
  • Technical assistance from subject matter experts and/or data/information to support technology development and/or confirm key technical or licensing issues

The businesses selected to receive GAIN nuclear energy vouchers for Round 2 FY 2020 are:

GAIN NE Voucher Recipient Proposal Partner Facility
Neutroelectric, LLC Combined Effects Testing of High-Temperature and Neutron Fluence to Support the Qualification of NE-300, a High-Temperature Neutron Shielding Material Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oklo, Inc. Addressing gaps in legacy data on fuel steel interactions Idaho National Laboratory

GAIN NE voucher recipients do not receive direct financial awards. The GAIN nuclear energy vouchers provide access to national laboratory capabilities at no cost to the voucher recipients. All awardees are responsible for a minimum 20 percent cost share, which could be an in-kind contribution. Further information on the GAIN nuclear energy voucher program as well as current and all past awards may be found here. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) established GAIN to provide the nuclear community with the technical, regulatory and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercialization while ensuring the continued safe, reliable and economic operation of the existing nuclear fleet.  Through GAIN, DOE is making its state-of-the-art and continuously improving RD&D infrastructure available to stakeholders to achieve faster and cost-effective development of innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercial readiness. Visit GAIN at https://gain.inl.gov. Follow @GAINNuclear on Twitter or visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GAINnuclear. —GAIN-20-002—

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