The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative today announced vouchers to four businesses to help support the development of several U.S. advanced reactor designs. The companies will be provided access to the research capabilities and expertise at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to help advance their projects.
Dow (Midland, Michigan) will work with INL to examine how small modular reactor (SMR) technologies can be integrated to provide electricity and process heat for the company’s chemical plants. Dow intends to use SMRs to provide process heat and power at one of its U.S. Gulf Coast sites by 2030.
Flibe Energy, Inc. (Huntsville, Alabama) will work with ANL to manufacture and characterize salt systems for use in the company’s low-enriched uranium fueled molten salt reactor. The company is developing a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor that can be used for power or medical isotope production.
Oklo Inc. (Santa Clara, California) will work with ANL to conduct experiments that can simulate coolant flow through the company’s reactor core to validate key modeling parameters and inform their reactor design. Oklo is developing the Aurora microreactor to provide off-grid electric power to customers isolated from large electric grids.
Radiant Industries Inc (El Segundo, California) will work with ANL and INL to develop computational analysis tools to better advance the design of its portable microreactor. The company’s Kaleidos design concept is being developed as a potential replacement for diesel generators.
GAIN voucher recipients do not receive direct financial awards. The vouchers provide funding to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories to help businesses overcome critical technological challenges to commercializing their technologies. All awardees are responsible for a minimum 20 percent cost-share, which could be an in-kind contribution.
GAIN was established by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy and provides the nuclear community with the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear technologies toward commercialization while ensuring the continued, safe, and economic operation of the existing fleet.
Today’s vouchers are the first awarded in Fiscal Year 2023 cycle.
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