On Friday, the Department of Energy announced its annual round of funding for nuclear power research programs at universities across the country.
Awards for 2013 totaled about $61 million, according to a DOE announcement. Of that, $42 million was set aside for 61 research projects led by 38 schools participating in the agency's Nuclear Energy University Programs. Researchers submitted projects exploring challenges in the nuclear fuel cycle, reactor concepts and modeling. A few of the topics to be explored include: a metal-cooled pebble-bed reactor design fueled by depleted uranium, a fluoride-salt-cooled reactor engineered to control tritium production, and in-situ experiments to monitor the effects of extreme conditions on fuel cladding.
DOE also set aside $5 million for research reactor upgrades at 15 schools and another $5 million for a multinational research project led by the University of Michigan to study the long-term performance of advanced reactor materials. The remaining $9 million will support 13 projects at universities and national laboratories participating in the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Program aimed at solving common challenges in the nuclear industry.
South Carolina State University senior Crystal Green working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She received $5,000 from among 37 scholarships awarded by DOE's Integrated University Program for this school year. Source: Jamie Douglas/LLNL.