The Office of Nuclear Energy has released a funding opportunity announcement for nuclear reactor fuel that has enhanced accident tolerance.

The Department is interested in funding research on light water reactor fuels that have innovative attributes such as higher temperature and strength capability, lower fuel operating temperature and increased resistance to oxidation – all of which could make future reactors even more resistant to accidents.

The award will fund up to three research projects that are specifically focused on early phase analysis and empirical data collection, with the goal of being able to demonstrate novel fuel and cladding concepts by 2022.

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement is available here and can be found by searching under the term “accident".