Background

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 stakeholders' input on the NEET program.

The mission of the NEET program is to develop crosscutting technologies that directly support and complement NE's 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, 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 NE's 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.

Workshop Attendance

Attendees should pre-register for the workshop as soon as possible, but no later than July 2, 2010. There is a maximum attendance of 200 participants, thus the first 200 participants registered will be included on a first-come–first-served basis. Please note that, although they take place during the same week, the NEUP workshop and NEET workshop are separate events. You must register for each workshop individually.

For more information regarding the workshop and the NE programs, please visit www.nuclear.gov.