The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) provides funding to support crosscutting nuclear energy research and development (R&D), and associated infrastructure support activities, to develop innovative technologies that offer the promise of dramatically improved performance

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for advanced reactors and fuel cycle concepts, while maximizing the use of DOE resources.The development of nuclear energy-related infrastructure and basic capabilities in the research community is necessary to promote R&D that supports nuclear science and engineering (NS&E), DOE-NE’s mission, and the Nation’s nuclear energy challenges.

Accordingly, DOE intends to enable the education and training of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy-makers, in graduate and undergraduate study, and two-year programs, as well as R&D that is relevant to the Department and the nuclear energy industry in general.The Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) utilizes up to 20 percent of funds appropriated to NE’s R&D program for university-based infrastructure support and R&D in key NE program-related areas:• Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FC R&D)• Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration (RC RD&D)• Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS)The infrastructure requested should be individual, discrete, and definable items or capabilities that will:• Support, maintain, or enhance the institutions’ capacities to attract and teach high quality students interested in nuclear energy-related studies;• Build the institutions’ research or education capabilities; or• Enhance the institutions’ capabilities to perform R&D that is relevant to DOE-NE’s mission.• Focus on a single, synergistic goal or capability.

A proposal made of several uncorrelated equipment requests in does not meet the goals of this FOA.• Not duplicate existing capabilities.

To see NE R&D capabilities in the US, review the Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Database (NEID) available at https://nsuf-infrastructure.inl.gov.NE reserves the right to respond to potential shifts in priorities during FY 2021 that may be driven by events, policy developments, or Congressional/budget direction.

NE will factor such considerations into decisions related to the timing and scale of award announcements associated with this FOA.