Office of Nuclear Energy (2020 Presidential transition)

Book 3 - Organization Overview
Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020

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Seal of DOE

As an applied research and development (R&D) organization, the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) supports the DOE Mission by enabling nuclear innovation, supporting unique research infrastructure, and solving crosscutting challenges facing the nuclear energy sector. NE invests in R&D that the private sector or other nongovernment stakeholders are unable to perform due to the cost, scale, or timeframe required. NE funds and creates opportunities for world-class researchers in industry, academia, and the National Laboratories to collaborate and solve pressing scientific and engineering challenges. By leveraging private-public partnerships and our National Laboratory system, we are making nuclear energy more cost effective, accelerating advanced reactor deployment, making nuclear fuel cycles more sustainable, encouraging a resilient supply chain, and promoting a strong nuclear workforce.

Mission Statement

The mission of NE is to advance nuclear power as a resource capable of meeting the Nation’s clean energy, environmental, and national security needs by resolving technical, cost, safety, proliferation resistance, and security barriers through research, development, and demonstration (RD&D). NE supports the diverse civilian nuclear energy programs of the U.S. government, leading federal RD&D efforts in nuclear energy technologies, including generation; safety; waste storage and management; and security technologies.

Budget

Fiscal Year	Budget
FY 2019 enacted	$1,326,090,000
FY 2020 enacted	$1,493,408,000
FY 2021 request	$1,179,931,000

Human Resources

FY 2020 authorized full-time equivalents (FTEs): 273

History

NE originated in January of 1980. During World War II, most nuclear research focused on developing an atom bomb. After the war, the United States government encouraged the development of nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes. Congress created the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946 to control nuclear energy development and explore peaceful uses of nuclear energy. On March 1, 1949, the AEC announced the selection of a site in Idaho for the National Reactor Testing Station; this was the origin of what is now the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The world’s first usable amount of electricity from nuclear energy was generated in Idaho in 1951. Over the years, 52 mostly first-of-a-kind reactors were designed, built, and decommissioned at Idaho’s National Laboratory.

Functions

NE can be characterized by ten major program activities that address the breath of issues important to sustaining nuclear power as a source of clean energy.

Sustaining the Current Fleet of Light Water Reactors

Light Water Reactor Sustainability - NE conducts R&D on technologies and other solutions that can improve economics, sustain safety, and maintain the technical reliability of the current domestic fleet of commercial nuclear power plants.
Accident Tolerant Fuels - Following the events at Fukushima, Congress directed NE to develop Accident Tolerant Fuels, a next-generation nuclear fuel with higher performance and greater tolerance for extreme, beyond design basis events. Partnering with industry, this program is on schedule to demonstrate batch reloads to commercial reactors in the mid-2020s

Deploying Small Modular Reactors

Advanced Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Research and Development - NE supports first-of-a-kind costs associated with design certification and licensing activities; engineering; supply chain development; and testing through cost-shared arrangements with industry partners to promote the development and deployment of SMRs that provide safe, clean, affordable power by the early 2030s. Broad SMR deployment would provide additional clean baseload for decarbonizing the U.S. electrical grid and for other sectors (i.e., industrial processes) of the U.S. economy.

Demonstrating Advanced Reactors

Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) - A key pillar of the NE mission is to establish an advanced reactor pipeline to improve the Nation’s economic and energy security posture. In FY 2020, Congress appropriated $230,000,000 for DOE to establish a comprehensive program to demonstrate multiple advanced reactor designs. The program will support 2 advanced designs that can be demonstrated in the next 7 years, and up to 5 additional designs that have a licensing and demonstration horizon in the early 2030s.
Advanced Reactor Technology R&D - NE conducts R&D that can help reduce long-term technical and regulatory barriers for multiple innovative advanced reactor technologies. Efforts focus on early stage, cross-cutting, industry- informed R&D that provides benefits widely applicable to the advanced reactors.
Crosscutting Technology Development - NE conducts high risk innovative R&D that could overcome technical limitations in Advanced Reactors and develops enabling technologies that have applicability across multiple technical areas. The Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS). The NEAMS program develops advanced modeling and simulation tools to address light-water and non-light-water reactor technology and fuel cycle needs.
Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) - The TCR program exploits advanced manufacturing methods to deliver a new approach to nuclear design and qualification.
Department of Defense (DoD) Mobile Microreactor - The DoD Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) plans to construct and operate a mobile nuclear microreactor demonstration at a Department of Energy site before the end of 2023. In March 2020, SCO awarded three companies (X-Energy, BWXT, and Westinghouse) to each develop an engineering design and safety case for their respective mobile microreactor technologies.

Developing Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles

Domestic Uranium Supply - Uranium production in the United States has been on a steady decline since the early 1980s. In 2019, the US produced the lowest annual total in more than 70 years, less than 0.5% of the current average amount of U.S. uranium requirements U.S. uranium properties are operating at minimal levels or have shut down. The nation’s only uranium conversion facility is also idle and at-risk of shutting down permanently. A potential solution is a U.S. uranium reserve to provide assurance of availability of uranium in the event of a market disruption.
High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) - Many advanced reactor concepts being developed in the U.S. require high-assay, low-enriched uranium (uranium enriched 5 and 20% in the U-235 isotope), however a commercially sustainable source of HALEU does not exist. NE has partnered with industry to demonstrate HALEU production with U.S. technology to enable deployment of U.S. advanced reactor technology.
Advanced Fuels - NE supports long-term technology development activities to develop next generation light water and non-light water reactor fuels with enhanced accident tolerance, improved fuel utilization, and sustainability of nuclear energy.
Materials Recovery & Waste Form Development - Develop advanced material recovery as well as advanced waste form development technologies. Achieving sustainable, economic, and non- proliferation attributes in recycled LWR and Advanced Reactors is critical for the nuclear fuel cycle.

Fast Neutron Irradiation

Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) - The VTR is a sodium-cooled reactor-based fast spectrum testing capability needed modernize U.S. infrastructure for early-stage R&D for the testing of advanced fuels, materials and instruments. In accordance with the rigorous methodology established by Department of Energy Order 413.3B, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets, Critical Decision 1 was approved on September 11, 2020.

Nuclear Science User Facilities and Enabling Capabilities

Idaho Facilities Management (IFM) and Idaho Site-wide Safeguards and Security (S&S) - NE has two major infrastructure programs that provide the basis to enable nuclear research and development missions with significant quantities of nuclear materials. The Idaho Facilities Management (IFM) program provides the basis for planning, acquisition, operation, maintenance, disposition, and protection of NE-owned facilities and capabilities. The S&S program funds all physical and cyber security activities for the INL, providing protection of the Department’s nuclear materials; classified and unclassified matter; government property; personnel; and other vital assets.
Nuclear Science User Facilities - Provide single point access, at no cost to the user, unique nuclear energy research capabilities at multiple DOE and University locations through competitive awards. Support commercialization of innovative concepts.
Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion Systems - NE designs, builds, tests, and delivers safe and reliable nuclear power systems for space exploration (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and national security applications on a full cost recovery basis.

Nuclear Waste Management

Interim Storage - The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 made DOE responsible for the United States’ spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste. The Department remains committed to fulfilling the Federal Government’s legal and moral obligations to properly manage and dispose of that material. The mission of the Interim Storage program is to develop and implement a robust interim storage program as part of a waste management system, and to continue to support the Department’s responsibilities for maintaining the security for the Yucca Mountain site.

Used Fuel Disposition R&D -This program includes longer-term scientific research and technology development to enable storage, transportation, and disposal of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and wastes generated by existing and future fuel cycles.

Crosscutting DOE Programs and Projects

Nuclear Fuel Working Group (NFWG) - The NFWG effort was established from the outcome of a Department of Commerce 232 submittal by the U.S. Uranium mining and extraction industry requesting some fraction of the uranium market be reserved for U.S. origin uranium. Preserving the U.S. ability to mine and extract uranium requires both direct support to the U.S. mining and extraction companies as well as revitalizing and expanding the nuclear industry as a whole to create increased demand for domestically sourced uranium.
Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI) - GMI is a collaborative, crosscutting R&D initiative among the Offices of Electricity (OE); Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); Fossil Energy (FE); Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER); and NE.
Water Security Grand Challenge (WSGC) - NE participates in the WSGC alongside EERE and FE. NE currently funds a selection of projects and programs that support solving energy-water related issues in conjunction with goals of the WSGC.
TeamUSA Civil Nuclear Working Group - The United States Government interagency civil nuclear working group, “TeamUSA,” supports the expansion of safe and secure use of nuclear power worldwide.
Nuclear Cooperation Initiative (NCI) - The U.S. Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, supports the President’s strategy outlined in the Nuclear Fuel Working Group (NFWG) report to restore the United States nuclear energy leadership and competitive nuclear advantages.
Nuclear Power Ministerial 2021 (NPM) - The NPM is held every four years, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) selected the United States Government to host the 2021 event. The NPM brings together IAEA members to explore views on the development and deployment of nuclear power. The Office of Nuclear Energy is leading the planning for the NPM, which is scheduled to take place October 18-20, 2021.

Stewardship of the Idaho National Laboratory

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) - NE provides oversight of the one of the most complex National Laboratories, the Idaho National Laboratory. The Idaho Operations Office is responsible for the effective stewardship of the INL, ensuring effective and efficient mission accomplishment; design, construction, operation, and maintenance of research facilities; integrated environment, safety and health protection; business systems; cultural and biological resources; and security and emergency management.

Federal Program Management

Provides federal staffing resources and costs associated with operations within the Office of Nuclear Energy. Federal staffing is a program concern as the NE Program Direction budget remains essentially flat while programs have grown appreciably in the past four years. An aging workforce, a highly competitive job market for experienced nuclear energy related disciplines, and the flat budget have left NE staffing at a level well below its 2016 total. The current on- board head count in NE is about 80 lower than the FY 2016 level.

Recent Organization Accomplishments

Small Modular Reactor Licensing

In partnership with DOE, NuScale Power, LLC (NuScale) successfully completed the final phase of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) first-of-its-kind Design Certification Application review of NuScale’s SMR technology in August 2020, and is now on track to complete license approval in August 2021.

Hydrogen Generation Demonstrations at Operating Nuclear Power Plants

DOE awarded two cooperative agreements to demonstrate the feasibility of producing hydrogen through low temperature electrolysis.

Public Private Partnerships and the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN)

In November 2015, the Department established the GAIN initiative. GAIN provides industry with access to the unique research capabilities and expertise at the DOE’s National Laboratories through its GAIN NE Voucher Program awards.

National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC)

NRIC was established by the Department in FY 2020 to accelerate demonstration of advanced reactors by providing technology developers with access to the physical infrastructure, materials, sites, and expertise to test and demonstrate their reactor concepts; assess performance; and accelerate the licensing and commercialization of these new nuclear energy systems.

Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP)

In FY 2020, DOE awarded over $56,000,000 through NEUP to support 58 university-led NE R&D projects in 25 states. NEUP seeks to maintain U.S. leadership in nuclear research across the country by providing top science and engineering students and faculty opportunities to develop innovative technologies and solutions for civil nuclear capabilities. In addition, NEUP awarded 21 critical university nuclear infrastructure projects and 3 larger scope Integrated Research Projects

Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS)

In FY 2020, Kairos Power submitted a Topical Report to the NRC requesting approval to apply the BISON NEAMS code in a future license application for a fluoride-salt cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR). The BISON code is a versatile, high-fidelity nuclear fuel performance code that provides insight into how nuclear fuel behaves in a reactor. This direct application of a NEAMS tool to license an advanced reactor design is a very strong statement of support regarding the value of NEAMS products to industry and the worth of DOE’s investment in these modeling tools.

Transformational Challenge Reactor

The TCR program established processes and tools for centralized collection of design; in situ manufacturing monitoring; part tracking and post- manufacturing characterization; and testing data streams into a digital platform, simplifying tracking, quality assurance, and analysis. The program also developed multiple artificial intelligence tools to facilitate correlation between manufacturing and testing data, to be used within the digital platform to more efficiently evaluate component quality.

Industry Cost-Shared Licensing Modernization Project

NE directly supported establishing and successfully executing the four-year Licensing Modernization Project (LMP) on schedule, achieving the project’s aggressive goals for support of near-term advanced reactor deployments by establishing a risk-informed and performance-based approach to advanced reactor design and licensing.

Regulatory Approval for Advanced TRISO Fuel Form

The Department’s cost-shared partnership with industry resulted in the NRC’s August 2020 approval of the performance parameters established for Uranium Oxycarbide (UCO) Tristructural Isotropic (TRISO) coated particle fuel. This was a major collaborative effort among the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the members of the industry’s Technology Working Group for High Temperature Reactors (HTR), and the National Laboratories, resolving this long-led technical issue on the path to deployment of robust TRISO-fueled technologies for both commercial and defense use.

Advanced Materials

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) recently added Alloy 617 into the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, which is the sixth material cleared for use in high-temperature reactors and could allow new designs to operate at even higher temperatures to access markets such as process heat applications and hydrogen production in addition to base load electricity generation.

Microreactor Demonstration Support

In February 2020, INL awarded Oklo Inc. access to high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) generated from legacy Experimental Breeder Reactor–II fuel. HALEU will be used to develop fuel for an initial Oklo microreactor nuclear demonstration at the INL site. In March 2020, INL completed initial siting assessments for potential microreactor demonstrations at the INL site. Also, INL completed design and construction of the Microreactor Agile Non-Nuclear Test Bed (MAGNET), which serves as a non-nuclear electrically heated prototypical test bed supporting industry-identified microreactor integrated system validation testing.

Sample Preparation Laboratory

The Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL) Project at the INL officially broke ground in July 2020, beginning a planned three-year construction period. The SPL will fulfill the near-term capabilities necessary for conducting the advanced post- irradiation examination needed to improve the understanding of nuclear fuels and materials performance.

Mars Perseverance Rover

In July 2020, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover successfully launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Perseverance is powered by a multi-mission adioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) which was fueled, built, and tested by DOE National Laboratories.

Accident Tolerant Fuel

Test rods of accident tolerant fuel from all three fuel vendors in the ATF program are currently installed and operating in five commercial U.S. reactors. Other ATF samples are undergoing testing at INL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The industry, with the support of the National Laboratories, is gathering the data required to qualify the fuel for use in commercial U.S. reactors.

National and Homeland Security

In 2020, INL was recognized by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission as a leading cybersecurity center, capable of researching and testing the cybersecurity of critical technologies. INL was the only National Laboratory called out in the report as an exemplar capability. In 2020, INL also opened the doors to the Cybercore Integration Center, a new building that serves as a key component of an innovative and strategic partnership with the State of Idaho

Nuclear Waste Management Cloud Platform

DOE has developed an integrated software platform hosted in a cloud environment that is capable of supporting a future nuclear waste management program. It positions the Department to be able to act quickly when Congress directs the next phase of a national nuclear waste management program to proceed.

Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage

The High Burnup Storage Demonstration, a project jointly funded by the Electric Power Research Institute and the DOE, is a critically important project related to the relicensing of the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel and is needed to help enable nuclear power generation to continue.

Leadership Challenges

Nuclear Retirement Drivers

Nuclear power supplies about 20% of U.S. electricity (approximately 55% of emissions-free electricity in 2019), but its share appears poised for decline. Since 2012 when 104 reactors were operating, 11 reactors have shut down earlier than their licensed lifetime. As of September 30, 2020, an additional six units [5.9 gigawatts (GW)] have announced intentions to close prematurely by the end of 2022.

The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR)

The United States has not had a fast neutron spectrum testing facility for over 20 years, forcing U.S. developers to rely on overseas facilities, effectively ceding U.S. nuclear energy leadership to China and Russia.

Nuclear Waste Management

The major challenge in nuclear waste management is obtaining Congressional action necessary to provide direction and funding to implement any disposal solution to address the country’s growing inventory of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

Stewardship of the Nuclear Infrastructure at the INL

When the INL was formed in 2005, research complexes at the site were transferred from other DOE elements to NE to reconstitute nuclear energy research capabilities. Many of these research facilities were not maintained as they were slated for disposition and disposal, and key support infrastructure was already removed.

Long-Term Thermal Irradiation Capability Needs

The Office of Naval Reactors (NR) has identified a need for a thermal irradiation testing capabilities through at least 2085. The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), which currently fulfills this mission, is currently projected to operate until at least 2040. NE and NR are currently evaluating options and developing recommendations to ensure continued irradiation testing capabilities.

INL Receipt of Small Quantities of Commercial Spent Fuel for Research

In 2019, through successful negotiations with representatives of the State of Idaho (Office of the Governor and Office of the Attorney General), an addendum to the Idaho Settlement Agreement was reached and signed by the Governor of Idaho and Secretary Perry. This agreement provides a path forward to resume receipt of quantities of commercial spent nuclear fuel at Idaho National Laboratory, subject to the completion of clean-up milestones.

Critical Events and Action Items

Accident Tolerant Fuel

NE intends to award follow on cooperative agreements in February 2021 to the three fuel vendors developing accident tolerant fuel for use in existing commercial U.S. reactors. Advanced Test Reactor Core Internal Changeout. In March 2021, the Advanced Test Reactor starts an extended shutdown for nine months to conduct the major Core Internal Changeout (CIC) outage.^[1]

Organizational Chart

Links

Internal

External

References

↑ DOE. (2021). Transitions 2020: Organization Overviews. US Department of Energy.

[1] DOE. (2021). Transitions 2020: Organization Overviews. US Department of Energy.

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