I-NERI Bilateral Collaborations
Before individual collaborative international research projects can be undertaken, a bilateral government-to-government I-NERI agreement must first be in place. These agreements are the vehicles to conduct research under DOE-NE’s Nuclear Reactor Technologies or Fuel Cycle Research and Development programs. To date, DOE has implemented the following bilateral agreements:
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) signed a bilateral agreement on June 20, 2003. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, signed the agreement for DOE and Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology Roberto Amaral signed for MST. The agreement with Brazil provides for DOE and MST to jointly fund projects in the field of nuclear technology research and development.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and in support of NRCan, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), signed the third bilateral I-NERI Agreement of June 17, 2003. William D Magwood, IV, Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology signed the agreement for DOE. Ric Cameron, Assistant Deputy Minister of NRCan, signed for NRCan. David F. Torgerson, Senior Vice-President Technology of AECL, signed for AECL.
The Department of Energy (DOE) signed an agreement to collaborate in nuclear-related technology research and development on March 6, 2003 with the European Commission (EC). Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, signed the agreement for DOE and Commissioner for Research Phillipe Busquin signed for the EC.
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Chairman Pascal Colombani of the Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (CEA) of France signed a bilateral agreement on July 9, 2001 to jointly fund innovative U.S.- French research in advanced reactors and fuel cycle development. The joint research projects are developing next generation nuclear reactor technologies. The agreement implements the DOE/CEA Agreement of Cooperation in Advanced Nuclear Reactor Science and Technology signed on September 18, 2000. The agreement with France provides a venue for DOE and CEA to fund joint U.S.-France project teams whose proposals are selected on the basis of merit.
An exchange of notes was signed by the U.S. Assistant Secretary Mr. John Wolf for Mr. Powell, U.S. Secretary of State and the Minister of the Japanese Embassy Mr. Keiichi Katakami for Ambassador Mr. Kato on April 22, 2004.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) signed the first-ever bilateral I-NERI Agreement on May 16, 2001. Director for Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, William D. Magwood, IV, signed the agreement for DOE. Dr. Chung-Won Cho, Director General of Korea's Atomic Energy Bureau, signed for MOST.
Current Research and Development Areas of Collaboration*
- Advanced sensors and instrumentation, including critical technology gaps relevant to multiple reactor and fuel cycle concepts
- Materials aging for LWRs
- Safety of nuclear reactor systems, including severe accidents
- Modeling and simulation, including high-fidelity multi-physics reactor analysis
- Next-generation reactors
- Innovative concepts for small modular reactor (SMR) designs
- Safeguards and nuclear physics data, including theory development
*Research topics as agreed upon at the May 2012 BINERIC meeting
The United States and an international consortium under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) have agreed to participate in and jointly fund a project to investigate ex vessel "Melt Coolability and Concrete Interaction" (MCCI). This agreement was developed and final agreement was reached in March 2002.
