FY24 Scientific Infrastructure
Support for Consolidated Innovative
Nuclear Research FOA
DE-FOA-0003040
Informational Webinar
May 31, 2023

Aaron Gravelle
University and Competitive
Research TeamOutline• FOA Overview• Preliminary Revitalization and Reactor
Sharing FOAs
• NSUF Integration• Reactor Upgrades• General Scientific Infrastructure• Best Practices• Pitfalls to Avoid• Contact Information

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FOA Highlights• Funding Mechanism– Funding supplied by the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE)– Grants issued by the Department of Energy Idaho (DOE-ID)• Two Funding Opportunities for U.S. Universities– Reactor Upgrades– General Scientific Infrastructure• Find the FOA (DE-FOA-0003040) at www.grants.gov• Submit applications at www.neup.gov

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Important Dates•

FOA release date: Week of June 5, 2023

•Applications due: August 24, 2023•

Anticipated award announcement: March 2024

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Preliminary Infrastructure Revitalization FOA• New infrastructure revitalization funding opportunity
will support competitively awarded, consortium-ledefforts to establish and/or enhance nuclear researchcapabilities at U.S. universities.
• Consortia or other partnerships to enhance regionalor national impact of the investment and foster
inclusion of disadvantaged communities• ~$6M available for the funding opportunity• Planned FOA release date: November 2023
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Preliminary Reactor Sharing and Outreach FOA• Purpose is to encourage universities and colleges
with nuclear research reactor facilities to shareresources and capabilities with non-reactor
educational institutions with an emphasis on
supporting MSIs including HBCUs and TCUs
1.
2.
3.

Strengthen nuclear science and engineering (NS&E) programsat nonreactor owning colleges and universities
Increase research opportunities and application of nuclear
analytical techniques for faculty and students
Improve public outreach with respect to nuclear sciences,engineering, and technology• 5 awards, ~$200k each = ~$1M in total funding• Planned FOA release date: November 2023

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Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF)• DOE-NE provides nuclear energy researchers access toworld-class capabilities to facilitate the advancement ofnuclear science and technology through NSUF
– Access to NSUF and its partner facilities is granted througha separate competitive proposal process• The applicant is recommended to demonstrate an ability
and willingness to join NSUF as a partner if an offer isextended• If NSUF determines the new equipment/capability adds
significant value to DOE, the awarded institution may beinvited to join NSUF, so the equipment is available toother researchers

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FOA Organization
Area 1
University Reactor Upgrades
Infrastructure Support

Area 2
University General Scientific
Infrastructure Support

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University Reactor Upgrades (RU)
• Award Size– Maximum individual award: $5,000,000– Expected award range: No more than $1,500,000– DOE anticipated to award several
smaller awards• Estimated Funding Level– Approximately $2.5 million• Period of Performance– Typically, 1 year (if additional time is needed it may berequested and justified in application)

Only educational reactors fueled by DOE are eligible– List can be found in Part I.C.1.1 of FOA– Each institution is permitted to submit one application foreach research reactor they operate.
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RU Review Criteria• Each application will receive a merit review by DOE, university peers, and NSUF reviewers• Review Criteria– (40%) Safety and/or Security – Potential of the requested equipment, instrumentation, ormodification to:• Enhance the safety, performance, control, or operational reliability of research reactor
systems; or• Increase the quality, safety/security, or efficiency of the operation of the research
reactor facility– (20%) Impact – Potential of the requested equipment, instrumentation, or modification tofacilitate, improve, or expand ongoing DOE-NE research and training capabilities– (20%) Utilization – As a result of the proposed equipment, the amount of student andfaculty usage of the research reactor facility, and the amount and variety of research
and/or services provided by the facility– (20%) Execution – Capability to implement the full scope of the project, including timely
project completion, personnel qualifications, budget, and feasibility.
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RU Focus Area – Safety, Security, and Reliability• A high priority for this FOA is the safety, security,and operational reliability of university research
reactors• Proposals to support continued long-term
operation of the university research reactor bypurchasing spare parts and associated hardware
may be highly regarded• Additional focus areas include:– Nuclear cyber-physical protection– Digital technologies that could be applied to advanced
nuclear reactors– Capabilities for the development and safetyassessments of SMRs
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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-SAenergy.gov/ne

General Scientific Infrastructure (GSI)• Award Size
– Maximum DOE funding per individual university award: $5,000,000– Anticipated award size $250,000• Period of Performance– Typically, 1 year (if additional time is needed it may be requestedand justified in application)• Eligibility– US universities are eligible to submit applications– One application per institution can be submitted to the GSI area of
this FOA.

• University cost match (1:1) required after $250,000• Estimated Funding Level– Approximately $2.5 million.
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GSI General Requirements• Applications can be submitted for equipment,
software, instrumentation, and associated nonreactor upgrade requests that support nuclear
energy-related R&D or education.
• Funding requests may include, but are not limited
to, equipment and instrumentation for specialized
facilities, classrooms and teaching laboratories, andnon-reactor NS&E research.
• Infrastructure requests that support the sharing anduse of equipment and instrumentation by multiple
campuses of a university, multiple universities, or
national laboratories are encouraged.

This Photo by Unknown Author
is licensed under CC BY
This Photo by Unknown Author islicensed under CC BY-SA-NC

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FY 2024 GSI Focus Areas• For FY24, specific focus areas of interest are:
– Nuclear cyber-physical protection– Digital technologies that could be applied to advanced nuclear reactors– Capabilities for the development and safety assessments of SMRs
– Capabilities to perform work on radioactive/irradiated materials

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GSI Reminder of Excluded Areas
NSUF provides access to high-performance computational resources at INL atno cost to users.
– Applications requesting purchase of scientific computing equipment (such as institutionalclusters, high-performance computing [HPC] nodes) will not be entertained.
– See nsuf.inl.gov or hpc.inl.gov for information on accessing HPC resources.

Courtesy of Eric Whiting, Director of Scientific Computing (INL)

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GSI Review Criteria
Each application will receive a merit review by DOE, university peers, and NSUF reviewers.

Review Criteria•(25%) Impact – Potential of the requested equipment, instrumentation, or modification to facilitate,improve, or expand ongoing DOE-NE research and training capabilities•(25%) Utilization – As a result of the proposed equipment, the amount of student, faculty, or
researcher usage of the capabilities, and the amount and variety of research or services provided bythe facility•(25%) Execution – Capability to implement the full scope of the project including timely projectcompletion, personnel qualifications, budget, and feasibility•(25%) Educational Innovation – Uses of equipment for educational purposes.

•(BONUS) NSUF Priority – up to 3 bonus points (constituting up to 3% of a maximum achievable
technical rating based upon the merit ratings given) may be attributed if improving an existing NSUF
partner facility or as a potential partner facility

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GSI Cost Sharing & Cost Match• Cost match is required on university GSI projects that exceed $250,000– Dollar for dollar matching requirement, up to the project ceiling of $5,000,000– For example, if the project’s total cost was $350,000; the university would be responsible
for $50,000 and DOE’s share would be $300,000– Anticipated award range will be around $250,000 for most applications• Cost sharing is encouraged but not required in this FOA• Contact the DOE-ID Contracting Office with questions

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Pitfalls to Avoid
The infrastructure requested should be individual, discrete, and definable
items or capabilities that will:
1. Support, maintain, or enhance the institution’s capacities to attract and teach high-quality students
interested in nuclear energy-related studies
2. Build the institution’s research or education capabilities
3. Enhance the institution’s capabilities to perform R&D relevant to DOE-NE’s mission

Focus on a single, synergistic goal or capability:•A proposal made of several uncorrelated equipment requests does not meet the goals of this FOA

Try not to duplicate existing capabilities:•To see NE R&D capabilities in the U.S., review the Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database (NEID)
available at https://nsuf-infrastructure.inl.gov

Specifically list any DOE-NE R&D program relevance18

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Contact Information• Technical questions can be submitted to:– Brenden Heidrich (TPOC)• Brenden.Heidrich@inl.gov• Procurement questions can be submitted to:– Andrew Ford (DOE-ID Contract Specialist)• fordaj@id.doe.gov• Application Site
– www.neup.gov• Infrastructure Q&A Section– https://neup.inl.gov/SitePages/FAQs.aspx

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Questions?

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