Announcement of the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Program Workshop

[Registration is full and no walk-ins can be accepted due to Fire Code restrictions.]

The Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), will host the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Program Workshop on July 29, 2010, at the Hilton Washington DC/ Rockville Executive Meeting Center in Rockville, Maryland. Interested researchers from universities, national laboratories, and the private sector are invited to attend. The purpose of this workshop is to gather stakeholder’s input on the NEET program.

The mission of the NEET program is to develop crosscutting technologies that directly support and complement the Office of Nuclear Energy’s (NE) development of new and advanced reactor concepts and fuel cycle technologies; and encourage the development of transformative, “out of the-box” solutions across the full range of nuclear energy technology issues.

The program will focus on innovative research relevant to multiple reactor and fuel cycle concepts that offer the promise of dramatically improved performance. Crosscutting areas of inquiry include research on advanced fuels and reactor materials, innovative nuclear manufacturing methods, new sensor technologies for monitoring material, and equipment conditions in existing reactors; and creative approaches to further reduce proliferation risks.

In addition, NE will support research and development (R&D) on transformative, high risk/high reward concepts that have the potential for making significant leaps forward in advanced nuclear technology development. This effort will cover the full nuclear technology spectrum. The investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed program will be open to projects that relate to any aspect of nuclear energy generation—reactor and power conversion technologies, enrichment, fuels and fuel management, waste disposal, nonproliferation, and so forth—ensuring that good ideas have sufficient outlet for exploration.

Technical innovations emerging from the NEET programs will be used to advance the Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D), and Fuel Cycle R&D programs.

The workshop will cover an overview of the NEET program’s mission and objectives in supporting the NE R&D Roadmap and the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget. The workshop breakout sessions will also provide a unique opportunity for the research community to weigh in on potential crosscutting concepts and topic areas that may be included in FY 2011 NEET Program Funding Opportunity Announcements.

Registration: Register for the workshop at: http://events.energetics.com/NEETWorkshop2010/index.html. Attendance is limited: the first 200 participants registered will be included on a first-come–first-served basis. All interested parties are asked to pre-register by July 2, 2010.

Information: For information concerning workshop logistics, please contact Phoebe Brown at pbrown@energetics.com or Marty Martinez at mmartinez@energetics.com or by telephone at 410-290-0370, ext. 266 and 237, respectively. For program information, please contact Suibel Schuppner at Suibel.schuppner@nuclear.energy.gov or by telephone at 301-903-1652.