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SRNL Project Supports Nation's Nuclear Energy Research and Development

Submitted by: Angeline French on Sep 04, 2008 at 3:03 pm Tagged with: DOE, nuclear energy, Savannah River National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Source: Savannah River National Laboratory

A project led by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to support the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), the Department’s nuclear energy research and development program. DOE will award funding to the SRNL-led project, along with just 19 others selected through a rigorous review of more than 300 competitive and innovative applications received from universities, national laboratories and industry. The selected projects will provide necessary data and analyses to further U.S. nuclear fuel cycle technology development, meet the need for advanced nuclear energy production and help to close the nuclear fuel cycle in the United States.

SRNL and its partner, Augusta State University, will study a proposed change to the Uranium Extraction (UREX) process that recovers uranium and technetium from spent nuclear fuel. By preventing the formation of an acid that could otherwise contaminate solutions recycled to the process, this change is expected to reduce the volume of waste from the UREX process that must be treated and dispositioned. The undergraduate research program at Augusta State will synthesize the compound to be tested and demonstrated by SRNL.

Awarding funding to these new AFCI projects will “accelerate our nation’s drive towards diverse and sustainable domestic sources of energy,” Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dennis Spurgeon said. “Developing nuclear fuel cycle technology is essential to ensure that the United States can continue to rely on safe and secure nuclear power to meet our energy needs, while also addressing nuclear waste and proliferation concerns.” The one-year awards range in value from $200,000 to $2,000,000 and will support the efforts of university, national laboratory, and industry researchers to develop the technologies necessary to close the nuclear fuel cycle.

This announcement adds up to $15 million to the more than $343 million DOE has already provided to universities, national labs and industry since AFCI was first funded in 2004. As part of President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative, AFCI aims to accelerate development and deployment of advanced fuel cycle technologies to encourage clean energy development, responsibly manage nuclear waste, and reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation.

SRNL is DOE’s applied research and development laboratory at the Savannah River Site. SRNL puts science to work to support DOE and the nation in the areas of national and homeland security, energy security, and environmental management. SRNL is managed for DOE by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, a Fluor Daniel partnership.

See the DOE news release at: http://www.doe.gov/news/6446.htm

SRNS-08-08