DOE Seeks Industry Participation for Next Generation Nuclear Plant

July 12, 2006

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking expressions of interest from industry teams interested in participating in the development and conceptual design of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP). NGNP will be a very high temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor prototype with the ability to produce process heat, electricity and/or hydrogen. The very high temperature reactor is based on research and development activities supported by the DOE Generation IV nuclear energy systems initiative.

"Proceeding with a request for expressions of interest is an important first step in bringing industry into the development of the NGNP," DOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dennis Spurgeon said. "My objective would be to establish a public-private partnership to complete the development of the technology and to do so early, allowing the technology to be available for commercial scale deployment on a timeframe consistent with the Energy Policy Act of 2005."

Expressions of interest are due to Idaho National Laboratory (INL) by July 14, 2006, and will be used to identify potential candidates to receive formal requests for proposal (RFPs) later this year. The pre-conceptual design of NGNP, which is consistent with the Phase I activities under EPACT 2005, would be directed at focusing the technical scope and priorities of research and development activities for the NGNP and on providing the basis for subsequent development of technical and functional specifications for the prototype plant. Consistent with EPACT, DOE would complete the design and construction of a prototype plant at the INL by 2021.

The request for expressions of interest and information concerning how to respond may be found at http://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOE/ posted under the heading of Idaho National Laboratory.

Source: Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

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DOE Seeks Industry Participation for Next Generation Nuclear Plant