nuclear-news

USA’s Department of Energy (DOE) makes $12.5 billion available to bolster new nuclear power projects

DOE Opens $12.5B Nuclear Loan Guarantee Solicitation, Power 12/10/2014 | Sonal Patel 
The Department of Energy (DOE) today opened a loan guarantee solicitation to make available as much as $12.5 billion to bolster the construction of new nuclear projects.

Issued under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects Solicitation backs four key technology areas: advanced nuclear reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs), uprates and upgrades at existing facilities, and front-end nuclear projects.

According to Peter Davidson, executive director of the DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), “any technology that meets the eligibility requirements is welcome to apply,” but the four areas are of “particular interest.”

“Advanced nuclear reactors” include projects with “evolutionary, state-of-the-art design improvements in the areas of fuel technology, thermal efficiency, modularized construction, safety systems, and standardized design,” he said.  The DOE is also seeking SMR projects, typically 300 MW or smaller,  and uprate and upgrade projects, which use an “innovative technology to improve an existing reactor by increasing efficiency, increasing capacity or making critical improvements that are integral to current or future facility operations.”

The DOE, meanwhile, specified that $2 billion of the $12.5 billion available under the solicitation will be available exclusively for front-end projects. These include uranium conversion or enrichment, as well as nuclear fuel fabrication…….http://www.powermag.com/doe-opens-12-5b-nuclear-loan-guarantee-solicitation/

December 13, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA