The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it will provide $20 million through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) with the funding available to developers of next generation nuclear power systems that are cost-effective and walkaway safe.
The primary target for funding, the DOE said, would be collaborative teams that join together academic institutions, scientific research and industrial companies with the focus on reducing capital costs for plant construction and operations through inherently fail-safe designs.
ARPA-E's Modeling-Enhanced Innovations Trailblazing Nuclear Energy Reinvigoration program (MEITNER) is set to administer the funding. ARPA-E's statement said MEITNER aims to “rethink(ing) of how pieces of the nuclear reactor system fit together when developing the technologies that will make these plants viable.”
The program envisions use of robotics, remote sensing, security and safety instrumentation and hack-proof networks that work together to create a safe system with minimal operations input.
“When ARPA-E examined the challenges facing nuclear energy, we found an important opportunity to support the advanced reactor design community with early-stage technologies that could enable the development of safer and less expensive plants,” said ARPA-E Acting Director Eric Rohlfing.
“MEITNER projects are developing technologies that will accelerate fabrication and testing, making construction cheaper, while integrating high levels of automation and built-in safety measures across the plant to reduce operational costs. Close coordination with the Office of Nuclear Energy in this endeavor, including utilization of the knowledge and resources developed by that office, will be critical to ensuring a successful, forward-looking program,” he said.